50 FABRE'S BOOK OF INSECTS 



irregular chirring sound, the song she sings at her work, 

 alone betrays her presence. The building goes on mysteri- 

 ously behind the cloud. The song ceases, and the Wasp 

 flies back through the steam, quite unharmed. She will 

 face this danger repeatedly all day, until the cell is built, 

 stored with food, and closed. 



Once and once only I was able to observe a Pelopseus 

 at my own fireside ; and, as it happened, it was a washing- 

 day. I had not long been appointed to the Avignon grammar- 

 school. It was close upon two o'clock, and in a few minutes 

 the roll of the drum would summon me to give a scientific 

 lecture to an audience of wool-gatherers. Suddenly I saw a 

 strange, agile insect dart through the steam that rose from 

 the wash-tub. The front part of its body was very thin, 

 and the back part was very plump, and the two parts were 

 joined together by a long thread. It was the Pelopseus, the 

 first I had seen with observant eyes. 



Being very anxious to become better acquainted with my 

 visitor, I fervently entreated the household not to disturb 

 her in my absence. Things went better than I dared hope. 

 On my return she was still carrying on her mason's work 

 behind the steam. Being eager to see the building of the 

 cells, the nature of the provisions, and the evolution of the 

 young Wasps, I raked the fire so as to decrease the volume 

 of smoke, and for a good two hours I watched the mother 

 Wasp diving through the cloud. 



Never again, in the forty years that followed, was my 

 fireplace honoured with such a visit. All the further informa- 

 tion I have gathered was gleaned on the hearths of my neigh- 

 bours. 



The Pelopseus, it appears, is of a solitary and vagrant 

 disposition. She nearly always builds a lonely nest, and 

 unlike many Wasps and Bees, she seldom founds her family 

 at the spot where she was reared herself. She is often found 

 in our southern towns, but on the whole she prefers the 

 peasant's smoky house to the townsman's white villa. No- 



