95 
as does Macromeris— that is, by the ventral end of the abdomen 
—and carries it beneath her body. Thus laden, she backs into 
the cell partly bringing in the spider with her, and then as she 
emerges from the cell she tucks in her burden at the same time, 
using the end of her body very deftly for this. Thus the spider’s 
underside faces the mouth of the cell and lies with the head end 
upwards. It may be many hours before the egg is laid and the 
cell closed; in fact, it may remain open overnight. The wasp 
sticks her head into the cell, attending to the spider in some 
manner—she often does further tucking in with the extremity of 
her abdomen, or she may have company, one or more compan- 
ions, who act towards this spider much like herself. This fuss- 
ing may be partly due to unpreparedness for oviposition. Finally, 
after a careful look at her prey, she reverses her position and, 
sticking her abdomen within the cell, remains thus for some 
seconds, evidently laying an egg. This is placed near the base 
of the underside of the abdomen. Then she sets to work promptly 
to close the cell with a cap of mud. But we must note that now 
she no longer gathers mud from some moist spot, for, as if con- 
scious of the danger of parasites, she bites off pieces lower down 
on the cell itself or at its juncture with another and uses this ma- 
terial, moistened in her jaws, for capping. Only occasionally 
does she fly out for a quick sip of water wherewith to soften the 
dried mud. Owing to the diminishing size of the cell’s aperture 
she is eventually forced to plaster from the outside, and that 1s 
why a portion of the cap is somewhat smoother than the sides. 
The length of Paragenia’s life-cycle was not determined, save 
that, barring accidents, the mother lives to see at least a good 
part of her progeny issue from the cocoons and cells. The 
wasp grub hatching from the egg, proceeds to consume the para- 
lyzed spider; in a few days it is full grown, having devoured 
practically the whole of her prey, and spins a thin yellowish- 
brown cocoon, tapering at one end and rounded at the other. As 
in Pseudagenia and Macromeris, the cocoon, about 19 mm. 
long, is secured to the inside of the cell by its tapering end, and 
also supported elsewhere by strands of silk. The pupa 1s an 
interesting object. It much resembles that of Macromeris, but in 
addition to the lateral Y-shaped processes of the abdomen, bears 
a forked thorn and two successive knobs on the back of the 
thorax and three pairs of thorns on the top of the head. There 
are also thorns near the base of the antennae. The cocoon and 
pupa lie in the long axis of the cell. The wasp in escaping 
from the cell bites a small hole through the cap. If this cell 
happens to be needed by one of the mothers of the colony, the 
debris is removed from it and the emergence hole, made by its 
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