WILD LIFE IN CALIFORNIA 



79 



see her bring the game which her kind is ac- 

 customed to place in their nest, but she did 

 not come back that day nor did I see any- 

 thing of her during the next three days. I 

 concluded to open the nest thinking that she 

 had probably already performed that inter- 

 esting part of the work and that the digging 

 that I saw her doing was the putting on of 

 some finishing touches she thought necessary 

 after storing the food for her progeny. 



My excavation showed the hole with the 

 enlargement at the bottom to be about five 

 inches deep on an incline of about forty-five 

 degrees. At the bottom I found a locust, 

 which in this country is improperly called 

 grasshopper. It was not paralyzed but dead 

 beyond question. While holding it in my 

 hand for examination two small legless larva 

 crawled out of the body of the insect. Wheth- 

 er these came from the hatching of the eggs 

 of the wasp or originated from the tres- 

 passing of some fly I could not then deter- 

 mine. I placed the locust and the larva in a 

 small box to see what would develop. The 

 result was the hatching of some small flies 

 like those I saw hovering around the wasp 

 while it was at work making its nest. 



As the Ammophila had made no return to 

 her nest I concluded to open it. I found the 

 hole to be nearly four inches deep but with 

 no enlargement for the cell at the bottom. It 

 was quite evident the nest had not been com- 

 pleted as there was no caterpillar or other 

 insect in it. After leaving the nest she her- 

 self may have become the victim of some 

 insect-eating bird or other animal. 



A few weeks later I had the satisfaction of 

 witnessing one of the same specie of wasps 

 mentioned above, a Priononyx, taking a cap- 

 tured locust to its nest or hole in the ground 

 previously made for the purpose. I was walk- 

 ing on a road in the suburbs of Napa when 

 a large insect carrying an object larger than 

 itself came slowly flying across the road. 

 Striking my knee in its flight it dropped its 

 load at my feet and flew away. I at once 

 saw that the object on the ground was a 

 locust. It was either dead or paralyzed but 

 bore no mark of injury, which caused me to 

 conclude that it was a victim of one of the 

 Spex family of wasps. If I were right in my 

 judgment I felt certain that the collision with 

 my knee was but the beginning of an in- 

 teresting incident, all features of which I 

 might be a witness owing to the favorable 

 conditions if I should be patient and quiet. 



I had not long to wait before a dark- 

 colored wasp, a Priononyx, came circling 

 about my person a foot or so from the 

 ground, evidently in search of the game she 

 had dropped a few moments before. I stepped 

 back a short distance to give the wasp a 

 clear field in her search. She was not long 

 in locating it. After a brief examination she 

 straddled the insect, seizing it at the base of 



its antennae and started off on foot. 

 Obviously she chose the easiest method of 

 handling the "hopper." The long legs of the 

 wasp raised her above the body of the locust 

 and she walked along with the victim with 

 ease and surprising speed, taking the same 

 direction that she was following when I first 

 saw her. 



I was certain that I was now about to see 

 the burial operation which I had frequently 

 read about, but never so fortunate as to wit- 

 ness. The wasp carried or dragged the locust 

 about a yard then dropped it. According to 

 the recorded habits of the species she was 

 now going to the nest to see if everything 

 was as it should be before bringing in the 

 game, therefore the nest of the Priononyx 

 was not far away. This proved to be the case; 

 by watching the wasp closely, following her 

 steps to the border of the beaten track of the 

 roadbed, I soon saw her approach a hole in 

 the ground which was a little larger round 

 than a lead pencil. She circled around it a 

 few times in flight then lit on the ground and 

 walked about the hole in a quick nervous 

 manner, after which she went down into the 

 nest, then came out. Apparently after satis- 

 fying herself that she could without inter- 

 ference bring home her prize she flew back 

 to the locust for the last time and brought 

 it to the entrance of the nest, where she left 

 it while she went down the hole head first. 

 While below she must have turned around, 

 for in a few seconds her head appeared above 

 the hole, when she seized the locust by the 

 antennae and dragged it down out of sight. 

 In a few moments she came out and began 

 to refill the hole by scratching in the loose 

 dirt about the entrance with her feet, throw- 

 ing it behind her. She continued the work 

 until the hole was filled and the surface 

 leveled with the surroundings and all evi- 

 dence of the presence of the nest was re- 

 moved. Her work now being finished her 

 interest in the place seemed at an end, for 

 she flew away and was seen no more. 



If I had excavated the locust at once I 

 would undoubtedly have found an egg of the 

 wasp fastened to the body of the buried in- 

 sect. If excavated a week later I would 

 probably have found that the egg had hatched 

 and that the larva of the wasp was feeding 

 on the body of the locust. However I did not 

 disturb the nest, but walked on thinking 

 about the anxiety, care and intelligence 

 manifested by the wasp in approaching the 

 nest and almost human cleverness in handling 

 the bulky captive. In contemplating similar 

 actions by humans they would be considered 

 as acts of intelligence, exhibiting prudence, 

 forethought, sagacity and aptitude. When we 

 find an individual though as low down in the 

 scale of life as an insect showing all this why 

 should it be attributed solely to instinct and 

 not to some degree of rational power? 



