206 TEXAS NATURE OBSERVATIONS AND REMINISCENCES. 



chambers, and after to lay her 

 eggs therein, and thus perpetu- 

 ate their kind, like all other be- 

 ings of similar nature. 



One of the most pesky and, 

 at times, annoying insects of 

 a different species, is the fearful 

 hornet wasp and the yellow 

 jacket ■ wasp. These wasps in 

 olden times, and even now, are 

 very numerous around Mitch- 

 ell's Lake; but, like the "mud- 

 dauber" wasp, they wouldn't 

 molest anyone, if left alone. 

 Nests of the hornet wasp as 

 large as the circumference of a 

 bucket could occasionally be en- 

 countered, mostly in old oak 

 trees, where they have most 

 shelter, and large black swarms 

 of them, like myriads of bees, 

 could be seen working incessant- 

 ly on their nests. 



The breeding and develop- 

 mental cycle of these wasps is 

 very interesting and entirely 

 the same as the described spe- 

 cies of "mud wasps," only that 

 the material they use in prepar- 

 ing their neat basket-shaped 

 and rotund nests consists en- 

 tirely of vegetable pulp tissue 

 and fibrous tissue, which the 

 wasps gather from plants along 

 the margin of the lake, and 

 gnaw into little pellets with 

 their powerful mandibles, and 

 transform into the delicate but 

 very firm and paper-like tissue 

 nests, using a coarser material 

 of fibrous tissue for the base 

 parts of the nest, and a white, 

 transparent tissue layer for the 

 upper cell compartments. The 

 photo herein, prepared some years 

 ago at Mitchell's Lake, shows 

 the cubic arrangements of the 

 cell segments, as well as some 

 of the pesky insects at work in 

 preparing and ir creasing their 

 nest. This view ->f my photo 

 collections of vituperous "Texas 

 insects shows not alone the va- 

 rious cell segments of these in- 



dustrious paper nest builders, 

 but also in some of the upper 

 cells the small white egg; and 

 the other cells around these 

 show the cell opening partly seal- 

 ed up with a rotund and white 

 membrane, prepared also of 

 vegetable fibrous tissue, whilst 

 still others are only partially 

 covered. Each cell compartment 

 is prepared with marvelous dex- 

 terity and mathematical pre- 

 cision, one cell interwoven into 

 the other, and each cell seg- 

 ment is over an inch deep, just 

 large enough and spacious 

 enough to comfortably house its 

 developing host. Verily, this is 

 wonderful! Just think of the 

 time and ingenuity human 

 hands or some machinery would 

 require to prepiare such a com- 

 pact and accurate cell nest of 

 vegetable fibres as this one the 

 photo represents from nature! 



During outings and hunting 

 trips one often encounters va-, 

 rious types of our Texas prairie 

 wasps, and among these the 

 "tarantula-killing wasp." There 

 exist several varieties, one be- 

 ing a slender and lengthy, yel- 

 lowish-brown wasp, which hunts 

 up all the crevices and holes on 

 the, prairies where it abounds, 

 and noticing a tarantula spider, 

 it will at once enter the spider's 

 haunts and extricate it, general- 

 ly after a lengthy battle, in 

 which the wasp usually is vic- 

 torious. It then removes its 

 victim with its powerful mandi- 

 bles to its , underground breed- 

 ing place, which the wasp digs 

 with its front feet and mandi- 

 bles, usually in a secluded sandy 

 place, and which I have myself 

 seen done along the hills and 

 fishing places of San Geronimo. 



In connection herewith I may 

 mention, by the way, the ex- 

 perience of my friend. Dr. W. 

 L. Bringhurst, of the San An- 

 tonio High School, who is a 

 close observer and brilliant 



