46 THE SOLITARY WASPS. 



CHAPTEE IV. ; 



THE TOILERS OF THE NIGHT. 



Crabro stirpicola Packard. 

 PL II., fig. 5; XL, figs. 6, 7. 



"We have, in this locality, a number of species of the genus 

 Crabro, several of which are quite common. All, so far as we 

 have observed them, make their nests in the stems of plants, be- 

 ing especially common in the stalks of the raspberry and the 

 blackberry. Our Crabro stirpicola is about one-quarter of an 

 inch long, and is black with yellow legs, yellow bars on the 

 thorax and interrupted yellow bands on the abdomen. (PL II., 

 fig. 5.) It is seen in numbers, through the middle of July, fly- 

 ing about in a leisurely way, but it is only toward the end of the 

 month, or in the early days of August that they settle down to 

 the work of making their homes. On the afternoon of July 

 twenty-seventh, after some very lively work in the heat of the 

 day, we walked down to the berry garden at half past five 

 o'clock, rather to rest ourselves than with the thought of under- 

 taking anything new; but a wasp-hunter cannot afford to choose 

 his own hours and we thankfully accepted the sending of for- 

 tune when we came upon a Crabro busy at work in digging out 

 her nest. She had only begun to excavate and had reached a 

 length just equal to that of her own body. Her manners were 

 an agreeable contrast to those of the wasps that we had been 

 watching through the day. The feverish excitement of their 

 ways seemed quite in keeping with the burning heat of noon, 

 while Crabro's slow and gentle movements harmonized perfect- 

 ly with the long shadows of evening. To fully appreciate the 

 difference between Pompilus or Ammophila and Crabro it is 

 necessary to see them at work. The one is the embodiment of 



