A MASON-WASP 55 



this ugly husk. In this final state the nest is like a great 

 splash of mud, flung against the wall by accident. 



Ill 



HER PROVISIONS 



Now that we know what the pro vision- jar is like, we 

 must find out what it contains. 



The young Pelopseus is fed on Spiders. The food does 

 not lack variety, even in the same nest and the same cell, 

 for any Spider may form a meal, as long as it is not too large 

 for the jar. The Cross Spider, with three crosses of white 

 dots on her back, is the dish that occurs oftenest. I think 

 the reason for this is simply that the Wasp does not go far 

 from home in her hunting-trips, and the Spider with the 

 crosses is the easiest to find. 



The Spider, armed with poison-fangs, is a dangerous prey 

 to tackle. When of fair size, she could only be conquered 

 by a greater amount of daring and skill than the Wasp possesses. 

 Moreover, the cells are too small to hold a bulky object. The 

 Wasp, therefore, hunts game of moderate size. If she meets 

 with a kind of Spider that is apt to become plump, she always 

 chooses a young one. But, though all are small, the size of 

 her victims varies enormously, and this variation in size 

 leads also to variation in number. One cell will contain a 

 dozen Spiders, while in another there are only five or six. 



Another reason for her choice of small Spiders is that she 

 kills them before potting them in her cells. She falls 

 suddenly upon her prey, and carries it off almost without 

 pausing in her flight. The skilful paralysis practised by 

 some insects is unknown to her. This means that when the 

 food is stored it soon decays. Fortunately the Spiders are 

 small enough to be finished at a single meal. If they were 

 large and could only be nibbled here and there, they would 

 decay, and poison the grubs in the nest. 



