14 MY STUDIO NEIGHBORS 



scattered about the opening. But the dissatisfac- 

 tion probably lay with one of these caterpillars 

 rather than with the maternal wasp, who had ap- 

 parently failed in the full dose of anaesthetic, for 



one of her victims 

 which I observed 

 was quite lively, 

 and had probably 

 forced out the soft 

 plug, and in his 

 squirming had 

 ousted his luckless 

 companions. 



The caterpillars 

 were all of the 

 same kind, though 

 varying in size, 

 their length being 

 from one-half to 

 three - quarters of 

 an inch. To all appearances they were dead, but 

 more careful observation revealed signs of slight 

 vitality. Recognizing the species as one which I 

 had long known, from its larva to its moth, it was 

 not difficult to understand how my brushes might 

 thus have been expeditiously packed with them. 

 Not far from my studio door is a small thicket of 



