44 



WILD LIFE IN CALIFORNIA 



habitation, so I replaced it without much 

 delay. 



As I view the action of the wasps in exami- 

 nation of the broken part and subsequent work 

 in repairing it, it is not difficult to recognize 

 a rational act. In the first place there was the 

 recognition of a damage to their nest. Some- 

 thing exceptional in character in the life his- 

 tory of this particular family of wasps. It is 

 quite probable that no accident of this kind 

 was experienced by the ancestors of these 

 wasps for ages past, so no precedent to supply 

 even remotely an impulse of instinct. In the 

 next place, their work showed they under- 

 stood that the condition of the stem necessi- 

 tated repair for the security of their home, 

 and they made it promptly and in a work- 

 manlike manner. 



If these insects were endowed with no power 

 that we call mental or rational whatever, and 

 were guided solely by instinct that supplies a 

 routine of actions throughout their existence, 

 that is, impels them to build a nest at a cer- 

 tain time in a certain form, lay eggs, provide 

 foor for their young, etc., having once ful- 

 filled the requirements of that instict, it is not 

 reasonable to expect them to duplicate or re- 

 peat any action that is not duplicated in the 

 routine of their lives. In fact, that was Fabre's 

 test in his effort to find out whether his wasps 

 and bees were actuated by reason or instinct. 

 He based an opinion that it was instinct alone 

 on results obtained in experimenting with the 

 mason bee, where he broke off the bottom of a 

 cell, and the poor bee continued to deposit 

 honey in the top. As it ran out at the bottom 

 as fast as she deposited in the top, of course 

 she was unable to fill the cell. 



To protect the wasp family from another 

 attack by marauding skunks I drove some 

 small stakes into the ground around the part 

 of the bottle that was exposed. The. other side 

 was protected by the porch construction. Two 

 weeks or more now passed and things seemed 

 to be going along nicely and prosperously with 

 the Polistes. More wasps were hatched and 

 the nest was enlarged. The daily actions of 

 the members of this industrious family were 

 so far as I could see wholly confined to the 

 duties already described. I said industrious, 



for they seemed very busy while at work. 

 However, they did not believe in long hours of 

 labor. As a rule it was about 9 o'clock in the 

 morning before any of them left the nest, and 

 generally they were all back and on the nest 

 for the night by 5 o'clock in the afternoon. 



They seemed very attentive at all times to 

 the grubs in the cells. I noticed wasps that 

 had been out, upon their return put their 

 heads into open cells, and I supposed they 

 were feeding the baby wasps. I would like to 

 have witnessed the operation, for I had read 

 that the young ones open their mouths to be 

 fed somewhat like young birds, but I was 

 unable to see what took place, as the head of 

 the mature wasp feeding the grubs filled the 

 mouth of the cell. 



Somewhat over a month had passed since I 

 transferred the nest and bottle from Pleas- 

 anton to Diablo when I was called to Oakland 

 on some business matters. I was absent from 

 Diablo two or three days. Upon my return, 

 about the first thing I did was to visit the 

 site of my wasp family home. What I found 

 was very disappointing and somewhat surpris- 

 ing. I had underrated the cunning and 

 strength of the skunks when some fat, rich 

 wasp grubs stood as a reward for their efforts. 

 The stakes had been pulled apart so they 

 could get the bottle out of the pocket I had 

 made for it. Then it was an easy matter for 

 the animals to complete the destruction of the 

 unique wasp domicile with no one around to 

 interfere with the murderous raid. When I 

 found the bottle about four feet from the 

 pocket there was not a vestage of the nest 

 remaining in it, nor could I find any part of 

 the nest or cell on the ground thereabout. I 

 never did fancy skunks and now I had another 

 grudge charged up against them. They not 

 only destroyed an object of curiosity and ex- 

 traordinary interest, but interrupted all fur- 

 ther possibility of acquiring any new informa- 

 tion as to the conduct and habits of this colony 

 of wasps. A nest in a clear glass bottle, af- 

 fording such exceptional advantages for c*lose 

 and thorough observations of the habits and 

 work of the insects, was something I could 

 hardly expect to find again. 



