132 THE SOLITARY WASPS. 



forty minutes she came back with another spider, but instead 

 of taking it into the nest she hung it upon a bean plant near by 

 (Plate X., fig. T), and then proceeded to dig a new hole a few 

 inches distant from the first. Foolish little wasp, what a waste 

 of labor! Truly, if you are endowed with energy beyond your 

 fellows you are but mea^erly furnished with reason. 



Again we availed ourselves of our opportunity and substituted 

 our spider for hers. This time it had grown weary of playing 

 its motionless r61e and frequent readjustments were necessary 

 in order to keep it in position. At the moment that the wasp 

 came back to take it the spider scrambled from its place and be- 

 gan to make its way along the stem. The wasp evidently saw 

 it for she hovered over it a moment. She then flew to the next 

 plant where she hunted about over the leaves and branches in 

 search of her lost treasure. After a time she returned. The 

 spider had now come to a standstill and the wasp examined it 

 attentively, although without touching it. She then flew away 

 without circling at all, which might, perhaps, be taken as an in- 

 dication that she had no intention of returning to a place where 

 she had fared so badly. 



Just at this moment we chanced to see another paralyzed strix 

 hanging near by. Again the exchange of our specimen was ac- 

 complished, but when the second wasp came to find her spider 

 she gave us no more satisfaction than the first. The substitute 

 hung there quietly enough. "We ourselves could not have dis- 

 tinguished it from the original,, but quinquenotatus took a good 

 look at it, decided that something was wrong, hunted about a 

 little for her own spider and then flew away. 



We had then, as the fruit of our morning's work, gained noth- 

 ing in regard to a knowledge of the stinging habits of our wasp, 

 but at least we had secured three freshly paralyzed spiders to 

 add to our laboratory collection. As to the strive that had so 

 kindly assisted us in our experiments, we placed it on a busli in 

 the pleasantest and most secluded corner of the garden and left 

 it there, wishing it a long and happy life . 



