A FAMILIAR GUEST 1 7 



with living food, and, being born hungry, he loses 

 no time in making a meal from the nearest vic- 

 tim. One after another of the caterpillars is de- 

 voured, until his larder, nicely calculated to carry 

 him to his full growth, is exhausted. Thus the 

 first stage is passed. The second stage is entered 

 into within a few hours, and is passed within a 

 silken cocoon, with which the white grub now 

 surrounds itself, and with which, transformed to a 

 pupa, it bides its time for about three weeks, as I 

 now recall, when — third stage — out pops the mud 

 cork, and the perfect wasp appears at the opening 

 of the cell. I have shown sections of one of my 

 brushes in the three stages. 



This interesting little hornet is a common sum- 

 mer species, known as the solitary hornet — one of 

 them — Odynerus flavipes. The insect is about a 

 half- inch in length, and to the careless observer 

 might suggest a yellow-jacket, though the yellow 

 is here confined to two triangular spots on the 

 front of the thorax and three bands upon the ab- 

 domen. 



Like the wren among birds, it is fond of build- 

 ing in holes, and will generally obtain them ready- 

 made if possible. Burroughs has said of the 

 wren that it " will build in anything that has a 

 hole in it, from an old boot to a bombshell." In 



