DAUBER WASPS. 357 



"This is not casual but invariable, as the ridges remaining 

 plainly mark the precise limits of everj' load. 



" When a little more in length is finished than suffices for a 

 single cell, the work ceases for awhile, an egg is laid in the bottom, 

 though this end is generally uppermost, and spiders are brought 

 in. This species usually, not always, selects a very beautiful 

 species of Tctragnatha, bright green with white spots ; and it is 

 worth remarking that spiders are carried both with the jaws and 

 feet, one of the forelegs of the spider being grasped in the mouth, 

 while the body is held under that of the fly, and sustained by 

 the anterior and middle legs and feet, the posterior pair being 

 extended behind, as usual during flight. 



" When the first cell is stocked, it is closed up by a transverse 

 partition of mud, and the thimble goes on increasing as before. 

 When finished, one will contain three or even four cells, and 

 then a new one is commenced, adjoining and parallel with it 

 In both this and the other species, I believe that the enclosed 

 grub eats only the abdomen of the spiders (which are so stung 

 as to be helpless but not dead) as the cephalothorax and legs of 

 each may generally be found afterwards in the cell." 



The same writer noticed a remarkable instance of ingenuity 

 in these insects. An empty ink-bottle about an inch and a half in 

 length lay on the table. The neck of this bottle was one day 

 seen to be stopped up with a substance like white pipe-clay, 

 and when this was broken, the bottle was found to be stored with 

 spiders. The fact was, that a Pelopseus had spied out the bottle, 

 and thought that she had a fine opportunity of providing a home 

 for her young without troubling herself to build a regular nest. 

 A day or two afterwards, the Dauber returned to see after the 

 nest, and finding that it had been disturbed, she entered the 

 bottle, took out aU the spiders, replaced them with fresh speci- 

 mens, and then re-closed the mouth. It is evident from this 

 fact, that the insect does not entirely abandon her young when 

 she has completed and closed the nest. 



Another curious discovery was also made while watching the 

 Pelopaeus. If the reader wiU refer to the illustration, he will see 

 that the abdomen of the insect is supported on a very long and 

 slender peduncle, or footstalk. Mr. Gosse was naturally anxious 

 to discover how the insect could draw the abdomen out of the 

 pupal skin when it came to change into its perfect condition. 



