116 THE SOLITARY WASPS. 



one of these beetles from her and found that it moved the tip of 

 the abdomen freely whenever the body or legs were touched. On 

 the next morning only the tips of the legs responded, by quiver- 

 ing, when the body was touched, and two days later it was un- 

 questionably dead. 



This species sometimes makes quite a thorough study of her 

 nesting place before leaving it, and then, again, she will fly off 

 without pausing at all. She has the habit of making a number 

 of half circles in front of the spot, and then, after rising a little 

 higher, of flying several times completely around it. 



The observations on deserta were made between the twenty- 

 fifth and twenty-ninth of August. 



Cerceris nigrescens Smith. 



"We had long been familiar with the sight of nigrescens flying 

 about over the purslane plants, now alighting and now circling 

 again, before we succeeded in getting close enough to see what 

 she was doing. What w T e had sought for in vain, however, came 

 to us unasked. We had just entered the garden, one afternoon, 

 when we saw her, bearing some kind of a burden, drop into an 

 open hole almost at our feet. After a few moments she came 

 out and flew away, and we, making ourselves as comfortable as 

 circumstances permitted, settled down to watch the course of 

 events. 



Forty minutes passed before we saw her returning. She was 

 evidently carrying a load which she seemed to hold in her man- 

 dibles. She seemed much annoyed by our proximity to her 

 nest, and it was fifteen minutes before she could make up her 

 mind to go in. During this time she circled about within from 

 five to ten feet of us, alighting frequently on the weeds. Once 

 when she alighted her victim seemed to struggle, for she 

 pounced on it and grasped it afresh. She finally dropped into 

 her nest and at once pushed, up a large quantity of earth behind 

 her. As she had not done this the first time that we saw her go 

 in we took it as an indication that she meant to remain at home 

 for the rest of the afternoon, and this proved to be the case. 



