WILD LIFE IN CALIFORNIA 



101 



of the nest, which if in the earth like the 

 one connected with the incidents of this story, 

 she then scratches in sufficient dirt to plug 

 up the entrance and removes all evidence of 

 the near-by nest. The egg may hatch within 

 three or four days. The larva, however, is 

 left to itself to feed on the spider until it is 

 ready to enter the pupa stage, from which 

 in due time it emerges a mature wasp. 



The mother wasp repeats the operation 

 several times in the course of the season. Just 

 how often it is not well known — then her 

 life's work is done. 



Now let me return to the operations of our 

 wasp. Reaching the spider she at once seized 

 it as before and started up the bank. Al- 

 though going backwards she had no trouble 

 in keeping the proper directions. She en- 

 countered several obstacles as on the previous 

 occasions, but finally reached her hole, into 

 which she backed. The spider was drawn 

 only partly into the entrance. Here she either 

 purposely released her hold while she went 

 back into the nest to see if everything was all 

 right, or lost it by the spider jamming in the 

 hole. However it Was, the spider upon being 

 released fell back and rolled down the bank 

 again. The wasp soon came out and as be- 

 fore seemed to know what had happened, for 

 without delay she flew down to the bottom 

 of the bank and recovered her game. She 

 at once began the labor of taking it ud the 

 cliff without exhibiting the least sign of dis- 

 couragement, but the result of this trip was 

 a failure as with the other attempts. 



The tenacity of purpose of this little insect 

 bordered on the marvelous, for she made six 

 more failures before success crowned her 

 persistent efforts. Each of these succeeding 

 trips up the bank with the huge limp body 

 of the spider was like the preceding attempts, 

 except twice the spider in falling dropped 

 down out of sight between some cobble stones. 

 The wasp seemed to be unable to recover it, 

 so we took it out of the crevice and laid it on 

 a smooth place in plain sight, where she 

 quickly found it. Once she took the spider 

 to a place about two inches above the entrance 

 to her nest and* hung it in a mass of little 

 rootlets that projected from the face of the 

 bank while she made the inspection visit to 

 her nest preparatory to taking the victim in. 

 When she came back she made the mistake 

 of seizing her prize from below. A few quick 

 tugs loosened the spider and its greater weight 

 jerked the wasp from her foothold, but not 

 her mouthhold. for the two went rolling down 

 the bank together and when they reached the 

 bottom the wasp still had a firm grasp of one 

 of the legs of the spider. 



On the final trip the wasp took the victim 

 to the spot two inches above the entrance of 

 her nest and left it as she did on the occasion 

 just related. This time upon her return she 

 did not attempt to move it as she did then, 

 but went to the upper side of the spider and 

 lifted it free of the rootlets and lowered it 

 to a place adjoining the entrance of the nest, 

 where by the aid of an outhanging rootlet 

 she found a temporary resting place for the 

 bulky game while she made another trip to 

 the interior of the nest. 



Just why the wasps of this character follow 

 the practice of leaving their game near the 

 entrances of their nests while they make a 

 visit to the interior is not understood, unless 

 it is, as some observers and students of wasp 

 habits assume, for the purpose of seeing that 

 everything is all right for receiving the prize. 



Accepting this theory as being correct then 

 our wasp must have found conditions favor- 

 able for the reception of the spider, for when 

 she came out she went directly to the prize 

 and seized it, not by the legs as she had been 

 doing, but this time by its hindmost part, the 

 apex of its abdomen. This change of method 

 in handling the game suggested that she knew 

 that the only way the spider could be hauled 

 into the nest was endwise; that by dragging 

 it by a leg would bring the body athwart the 

 entrance, making it impossible to pull it in. 

 It was plain now that she had conquered all 

 the difficulties that had interfered with her 

 depositing the prize in the nest after capture, 

 and further proceeding was a simple matter. 



She walked backwards into the hole, pull- 

 ing the spider after her. As the body of the 

 latter began to disappear it was evident that 

 it was a "tight fit." In fact, it was so tight 

 that for a few seconds it looked as if the 

 bulky prize had blocked the entrance and 

 turned the tables on the wasp by imprison- 

 ing her in the nest. But not so, as little by 

 little the spider was disappearing into the 

 hole, gradually moving in response to the 

 tugging of the wasp and finally passing out 

 of sight. 



I looked at my watch and saw that it was 

 quarter past three. From previous observa- 

 tion of the habits of other wasps of this 

 family I expected our wasp to lay an egg and 

 attach it to the lifeless body of the immured 

 spider and then return to the entrance of the 

 nest and plug or fill up the hole, and thus 

 remove all outward evidence of its existence. 

 After waiting five minutes I began to think 

 that probably the wasp had been unable to 

 pull the prize all the way down to the en- 

 larged cavity at the bottom of the nest and 

 was actually imprisoned. Ten. twenty, thirty 

 and finally forty minutes passed and no wasp 

 appeared. Was she unable to come out? 

 Knowing her remarkable powers in excavat- 

 ing earth and her strength in limb and body 

 I could not bring myself to that conclusion. 

 I thought it more probable, as it was now 

 nearly 4 o'clock and the chilly air of the 

 evening was coming on, the wasp had merely 

 suspended operations. 



So it proved to be, as will be shown by 

 what followed. The next day I visited the 

 scene of operations and found the entrance 

 open just as we left it the previous day. and 

 it remained that way for five days more. The 

 weather during this period was cold, cloudy 

 and rainy. It is well known that wasps of 

 nearly all kinds are partial to warm weather 

 and disposed to remain "indoorb" while it is 

 cold and unpleasant outside. Now came a 

 bright and sunshiny day. Early in the fore- 

 noon we went to the nest and found Mrs. 

 Wasp at work sealing up the entrance. She 

 seemed to be working quite leisurely, con- 

 trary to the habit of her kind in this opera- 



