392 
SAND-WASP. 
against the timbers under the roof of houses, or un- 
der pales. Eight or ten of them are joined together 
and divided into several apartments, in each of 
which the species called the blue sand-wasp deposits 
an egg, and stuffs the apartment with several insects 
to support the future offspring ; after which the ori- 
fice is closed. While they are about this work they 
constantly make a humming noise, though perfectly 
silent at other times. Spiders seem the principal 
victims of these little animals, which their situation 
gives them frequent opportunities of obtaining. As 
a proof of their great strength we shall quote Mr. 
Catesby, who once saw one of these wasps drag an 
exceeding large spider up a wall to its nest, which 
being caught and weighed, was found to be eight 
times as heavy as the fly. 
The young sand-wasp remains in the clayey cell 
during the winter, in which time it passes through 
the state of a chrysalis, and in the spring gnaws its 
way out, perfectly equipped, and ready to join its 
companions in the air. 
