proaches the latter with 
care and in light pro- 
gressive jerks, and aleri 
to any danger, alights 
on a chosen spot. Here 
material is bitten out, 
and when a_ sufficient 
load of it accumulates in 
her jaws she flies off and 
away in her peculiar 
graceful flight, which, 
though not rapid, and 
following each time the 
same path, 1s, owing to 
the wasp’s slenderness 
and the conditions of 
light in the forest, quite 
difficult to follow. Fur- 
thermore, she works 
slowly—the trips are at 

: ; Fig. 104. Stenogaster micans, var. luzon- 
intervals of approxi- ensis, 2, X 3. 
mately fifteen minutes, 
and so both time and patience are 
taxed. 
On July 20, 1917, I found one of 
these wasps building her nest, 
which was fastened to the delicate 
stem of a little fern growing well 
out of reach, under an overhang- 
ing ledge of the creek bank. This 
locality was within the forest and 
in the constant thunder of a small 
cascade. The nest was secured by 
a small central pedicel and _ con- 
sisted of one tier or~ horizontal 
comb of about 12 rather shallow 
cells. Desirous of identifying the ar- 
chitect, I caught and then released 
her; but from now on, however, the 
nest was deserted. On August 9, I 
visited this unfinished nest and was 
surprised to find the cells consider- 
Fig. 105. Completed nest of §, 2bly darkened again as well as 
micans, var. luzonensis, X 1. lengthened. Evidently another fe- 

