60 FABKE'S BOOK OF INSECTS 



Since the Swallow, the Sparrow, and the Wasp existed 

 before man, their industry cannot be dependent on the 

 works of man. Each of them must have had an art of build- 

 ing in the time when man was not here. 



For thirty years and more I asked myself where the 

 Pelopseus lived in those times. Outside our houses I could 

 find no trace of her nests. At last chance, which favours 

 the persevering, came to my help. 



The Serignan quarries are full of broken stones, of refuse 

 that has been piled there in the course of centuries. Here 

 the Fieldmouse crunches his olive-stones and acorns, or 

 now and then a Snail. The empty Snail-shells lie here and 

 there beneath a stone, and within them different Bees and 

 Wasps build their cells. In searching for these treasures I found, 

 three times, the nest of a Pelopseus among the broken stones. 



These three nests were exactly the same as those found 

 in our houses. The material was mud, as always ; the pro- 

 tective covering was the same mud. The dangers of the site 

 had suggested no improvements to the builder. We see, then, 

 that sometimes, but very rarely, the Pelopseus builds in stone- 

 heaps and under flat blocks of stone that do not touch the 

 ground. It was in such places as these that she must have 

 made her nest before she invaded our houses. 



The three nests, however, were in a piteous state. The 

 damp and exposure had ruined them, and the cocoons were 

 in pieces. Unprotected by their earthen cover the grubs 

 had perished eaten by a Fieldmouse or another. 



The sight of these ruins made me wonder if my neighbour- 

 hood were really a suitable place for the Pelopaeus to build 

 her nest out of doors. It is plain that the mother Wasp 

 dislikes doing so, and is hardly ever driven to such a desperate 

 measure. And if the climate makes it impossible for her to 

 practise the industry of her forefathers successfully, I think 

 we may conclude that she is a foreigner. Surely she comes 

 from a hotter and drier climate, where there is little rain and 

 no snow. 



