146 OUR BACKDOOR NEIGHBORS 



regurgitated by the mother, and it looked as 

 though the mother wasp must be doing the 

 same thing. The pieces of caterpillar steak 

 which she brought home were about the size of 

 small number eight shot. After kneading it 

 carefully by turning it round and round be- 

 tween her jaws, seemingly to make it tender, 

 she would divide it into two or three parts and 

 give it to the larger larvae. Sometimes they 

 would suck these bits for several minutes, 

 when the mother wasp would take them again 

 and eat them herself, or give them to other 

 larvae. At other times the youngsters would 

 swallow the bits after sucking them for several 

 minutes. 



One day the Naturalist caught a mosquito 

 and, rolling it between his thumb and finger, 

 imitated the kneading which the mother wasp 

 gave the bits of food, as well as he could. 

 Then placing a bit of it on a grass stem he gave 

 it to a larva. The little larva opened its 

 mouth, much like a young bird waiting to be 

 fed, and took the bit of mosquito and tried for 

 some time to eat it. He caught a red mite also 

 and gave to another in similar manner. The 

 mite, being very small, was swallowed at once, 

 but the larva which had the mosquito was still 



