The Hunting Wasps 



the fore-feet, and carried with the mandibles 

 to strengthen the crumbly mass. Should the 

 Wasp find none within reach to suit her, she 

 goes and searches for them in the neighbour- 

 hood and seems to choose them as conscien- 

 tiously as a mason would choose the chief 

 stones for his building. Vegetable remains, 

 tiny fragments of dead leaves, are also em- 

 ployed. In a few moments, every outward 

 trace of the underground dwelling has dis- 

 appeared; and, if we have not been careful 

 to mark, the site of the abode, it becomes im- 

 possible for the most watchful eye to find it 

 again. When this is finished, a new burrow 

 is dug, provisioned and walled up as often as 

 the teeming ovaries demand. Having com- 

 pleted the laying of her eggs, the Sphex re- 

 sumes her careless, vagrant life, until the first 

 cold snap puts an end to her well-filled exist- 

 ence. 



The Sphex' task is accomplished; and I 

 will finish mine with an examination of her 

 weapon. The organ destined for the elabo- 

 ration of her poison consists of two prettily- 

 ramified tubes, ending separately in a com- 

 mon reservoir or phial, shaped like a pea. 

 From this phial starts a slender channel 



