52 
Some Solitary Wasps of Texas. 
ing her nest, No. 58 had more difficulty than her sisters because 
her nest opened on a sloping surface like a cave on the face of a 
precipice. In other cases, where the nest ran down from a level 
surface, there was left after closing a shallow elliptical depression 
like a gentle finger imprint almost characteristic of the species. I 
frequently made use of this depression to tell whether or not a wasp 
had visted her nest during my absence : I would smooth the entrance 
over and if the pit was visible on my return I had reason to believe 
that the wasp had come and gone. Bembecids as a rule are not 
easily disturbed by changes around their nests, as is the case with the 
Pompilidae to a high degree. In the case of the species under con- 
sideration, I often smoothed over the sand covering the entrance, 
but this in no way, as far as I could detect, disconcerted the wasp 
on her return. Sometimes I would, in addition, lay a blade of 
grass over the nest. The wasp would nevertheless fin^l the nest im- 
mediately^ and merely kick the obstruction away. One individual, 
with a temper, once picked it up with her mandibles, carried it off 
to a distance and flung it angrily away. 
At 12 :30 the nest of wasp No. 58, which I began to describe, 
was completed and the wasp had flown away. I was at the time 
trying to keep four nests of three different species under observa- 
tion and therefore failed to see this one enter her nest on her first 
return. 
At 3 :07 she came back again and descended slowly toward the 
nest. When within three inches of the surface, she hovered an in- 
stant, then dropped suddenly like a dead-weight and after a mo- 
ment’s pause at the entrance opened it up and walked in. As she en- 
tered I could see her pass a very small bug back to her hind legs in so 
deft a manner as would do credit to a slight-of-hand performer. 
She remained inside but a minute, then came out, closing the nest 
behind her. In every case that came under my observation this 
species closed the nest thoroughly before flying away. On her re- 
turn she approaches cautiously and, when just over the nest, drops 
suddenly upon it. Moreover, she always carries the bug with her 
middle pair of legs and passes it back to the third pair on entering. 
At 3 :39, the wasp was back again. Her manner of approach this 
time was quite different than before. Instead of flying directly 
down toward the nest, she flew back and forth above it in nearly 
parallel lines like a pendulum with ever shortening oscillations. 
This manner of approach she employed nearly every time. Other 
individuals of the species showed a habit approaching this, though 
not so marked. 
