OCIAL
SOLITARY
EUZABETH G.
PBCKH AM
,
nj ru
oi ii
CD
m o
WASPS SOCIAL
AND SOLITARY
Page 266
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OCIAL
SOLITARY
EUZABETH G.
PBCKH AM
,
nj ru
oi ii
CD
m o
WASPS SOCIAL
AND SOLITARY
Page 266
PELOP/EUS ON NEST, GROUP OF FINISHED CELLS, AND TUBE OPENED TO SHOW SPIDERS
WASPS SOCIAL AND SOLITARY BY
GEORGE
W. PECKHAM AND
ELIZABETH
G.
PECKHAM
WITH AN INTRODUCTION BY
JOHN BURROUGHS ILLUSTRATIONS BY JAMES
H.
" Bold sons of air and heat, untamed, untired."
EMERTON ILIAD,
Book XVII
'
>
BOSTON AND NEW YORK HOUGHTON, MIFFLIN AND COMPANY (Cbe 0itoer?ibc p>res$, Cambribge
1905
COPYRIGHT
1905
BY GEORGE W. PECKHAM AND ELIZABETH
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
Published Afril, 7905
G.
PECKHAM
NOTE A
PART
of the matter presented in this
volume was
published several years ago by the Wisconsin Biological Survey, under the Solitary
Wasps."
'
title
Instincts
and Habits of the
These chapters have been revised
and modified, and new matter based upon
later
work
has been added, in the hope that in their present technical form the observations recorded
will
be of
less in-
terest to the general reader.
For a number
of the text cuts used in this
volume we
are indebted to the courtesy of Dr. E. A. Birge, Director of the
Survey.
Wisconsin Geological and Natural History
CONTENTS PAGE
CHAPTER I.
II.
COMMUNAL LIFE
i
AMMOPHILA AND HER CATERPILLARS
III.
THE GREAT GOLDEN DIGGER
IV.
SEVERAL LITTLE WASPS
V.
VI. VII. VIII. IX.
X. XI. XII.
XIII.
CRABRO
AN
.
...
....... ......
ISLAND SETTLEMENT
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
THE BURROWERS
THE WOOD-BORERS THE SPIDER-HUNTERS THE ENEMIES OF THE GRASSHOPPER WORKERS IN CLAY .
.
72
97
119 141
196
248
.
.
265
275
.
INSTINCT AND INTELLIGENCE
56
178 .
.
SENSE OF DIRECTION
15
.
.
.
292
31254
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS PAGE
GROUP OF FINISHED CELLS, AND TUBE OPENED TO SHOW SPIDERS (page 266) Frontispiece WASP EATING 3 PAPER NEST WITH SIDE REMOVED TO SHOW CONPELOP^EUS ON NEST,
........
STRUCTION OF COMBS
.
.
.
.
ii
.
........
AMMOPHILA URNARIA CARRYING CATERPILLAR TO NEST
19
AMMOPHILA URNARIA STINGING CATERPILLAR CATERPILLAR WITH EGG OF AMMOPHILA URNARIA NEST OF AMMOPHILA AMMOPHILA URNARIA USING STONE TO POUND DOWN EARTH OVER NEST
39
THOROUGH LOCALITY STUDY BY SPHEX
59
.
..... .
.
HASTY LOCALITY STUDY BY SPHEX SPHEX DRAGGING GRASSHOPPER TO HER NEST NEST OF SPHEX .
27
29 31
.61
.
.
..... ...... ...... ....
63
69
OXYBELUS QUADRINOTATUS NEST OF OXYBELUS
75
APORUS FASCIATUS
81
WASP HOMES
IN THE LOG CABIN NEST OF PERENNIS NEST OF ANORMIS .
.
.
79
85
89 .
.
.
91
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS PAGE
SEXMACULATUS IN THE LINDEN ROOTS CRABRO AND HER WHITE MOTHS
.
.
.103
.
.
CRABRO STIRPICOLA BOTTLE ON STEM TO MEASURE WORK OF CRABRO NEST OF C. STIRPICOLA .
.
AMMOPHILA
SLEEPING
.
.
.
THE
IN
99
.
GRASS
106
.
.
113
(AFTER
BANKS) NEST OF BEMBEX
115 125
BEMBEX SPINOL^E LOOKING OUT OF NEST BEMBEX
A CORNER
OF THE BEMBEX COLONY
-131
.
136
....
NEST OF CERCERIS NIGRESCENS
.
.
.
CERCERIS DESERTA
:
143
LOCALITY STUDY BEFORE LEAV-
ING NEST
153
PHILANTHUS PUNCTATUS
.
.
NEST OF PHILANTHUS PUNCTATUS APHILANTHOPS GATHERING ANTS
TRYPOXYLON RUBROCINCTUM
.
.
.
.
163
185
.
.191
.
...
DIG-
197
.
.
POMPILUS QUINQUENOTATUS EPEIRA STRIX PARALYZED AND HUNG UP ON BEAN
PLANT BY POMPILUS QUINQUENOTATUS, OUT OF THE WAY OF ANTS
.....
P.
QUINQUENOTATUS POMPILUS MARGINATUS
.
.
.
157
.169
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
MALE TRYPOXYLON AWAITING THE FEMALE TORNADO WASP (POMPILUS QUINQUENOTATUS)
NEST OF
137
142
CERCERIS CLYPEATA
GING NEST
107
199
203
.213 223
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS THE HOME-COMING
.... ....
OF SCELESTUS
NEST OF AGENIA BOMBYCINA LYCOSA KOCHII, FOUND IN NEST OF AGENIA BOMBYCINA
241
245
245
TACHYTES
NEST OF TACHYTES.
PAGE
249 .
.
.
CHLORION AND THE INDISCREET CRICKET HORIZONTAL CELLS OF THE MUD-DAUBER
-251
.
.
257
.
.
.271
.
COURSE FOLLOWED BY POMPILUS FUSCIPENNIS IN FINDING HER SPIDER, AND IN RETRACING HER STEPS TO THE NEST
283
LOCALITY STUDY OF ASTATA BICOLOR
288
LOCALITY STUDY OF ASTATA UNICOLOR
.
.
.
.
.
SECOND LOCALITY STUDY OF ASTATA UNICOLOR
290
PARALYZED SPIDER HUNG UP ON SORREL BY QUINQUENOTATUS WHILE SHE DIGS HER NEST .
>-'
289
295
"o IbU
Introduction
NOT
long since I wrote to a friend, a nature lover,
as follows:
"The most charming monograph
in
any department of our natural history that I have read
many a year is on our solitary wasps, by George W. Peckham and his wife, of Wisconsin, - a work so in
-
delightful
and
that
instructive
it
is
a great pity
it
is
not published in some popular series of nature books,
where
it
could reach
its
fit
audience, instead of being
handicapped as a State publication." This end has now been brought about, and the book with
much new
gives
many new
material and
placed within easy reach of
all
interest of a
and enlarged
illustrations -
nature lovers, to
me pleasure to commend it.
of patient, exact,
revised
It is
whom
it
a wonderful record
and loving observation, which has all the
romance.
right at our feet,
It
opens up a world of Lilliput
wherein the
delight us with their curious
little
human
people amuse and foibles
and whim-
sicalities, and surprise us with their intelligence and individuality. Here I had been saying in print that I
looked upon insects as perfect automata, and
same
all
of the
class as nearly alike as the leaves of the trees or
xm
INTRODUCTION upon the beach. I had not reckoned with the Peckhams and their solitary wasps. The solitary ways the sands
of these insects
seem
and they
one from another, more than any other
differ
to bring out their individual traits,
known
wild creatures
to
me.
man is the only tool-using
has been thought that
It
animal, yet here
wasps, Ammophila, that uses a
down
hand, and uses
would take a stone
hammer
as a
it
I
to
this
;
so far as I
know
there
This
I
act
am
reading
is
its
soil
a remark-
no other animal on
makes any mechanical use
continent that
object or substance foreign to
The
is
in
our
in
pound down the
above the cavity that holds her egg. able fact
pebble to pound
She takes the pebble
the earth over her nest.
her mandibles, as you or
little
one of these
is
own body
of
in this
an
way.
stamps Ammophila as a tool-using animal. have had more delight in
free to confess that I this
book than
in a long time.
in reading
Such a queer
little
any other nature book people as
it
reveals to
us, so whimsical, so fickle, so fussy, so forgetful, so wise
and yet so
foolish,
such victims of routine and yet so
and yet such
individual, with such apparent foresight
thoughtlessness,
finding their
way back
to the
same
square inch of earth in the monotonous expanse of a
wide plowed
field
with unfailing accuracy, and then at
times finishing their
cell
and sealing xiv
it
up without the
INTRODUCTION and the egg
spider
and
;
hardly any two alike
excitable, another
calm and unhurried
suspicious, that one confiding
burrow before
it
captures
game and then digging up
spider
it
works
moment
its
little
of
this
;
one its
game, others capturing the
weed
one wasp hanging
;
to
at its nest,
or two to see that
keep
it
it is
safe it
its
away from the
and then running
ing the insect on the ground while
and
one care-
;
one species digging
;
the hole
in the fork of a
ants while
queer
one nervous
her work, another neat and thorough
less in
every
;
;
to
it
another lay-
digs,
-
verily a
people, with a lot of wild nature about them,
human
nature, too.
JOHN BURROUGHS.
WASPS and Solitary
Social
I
Chapter
COMMUNAL "
"
What
A)
LIFE
For where 's the state beneath the firmament That doth excel the wasps' for government." is
not good for the swarm
is
not good for the wasp."
mankind
the tendency of
to
crowd
grows stronger the joys of country
into life
towns
and the
workings of Nature are more and more excluded from the daily experience of humanity. love of the wild
is
too strong for suppression,
from the hot and noisy of spirit to
meet our
streets they find
little
wider spaces of their
We
In a few the primal
it
and turning
a refreshment
brothers of earth and air in the
own
territory.
were walking through the woods one hot day in
the middle of August
when our
attention
was attracted
by a stream of yellow-jackets issuing from the ground. They came in such surprising numbers and looked so i
WASPS, SOCIAL of energy that
full
AND SOLITARY
we stopped
was our introduction
to
watch them, and
to the study of these
this
"bold sons of
and heat," although a perusal of Fabre's fascinating " "Souvenirs Entomologiques had prepared us to feel a
air
We -were
them.
lively interest in
near Milwaukee, where
wooded
at
our
meadow and
summer home
garden, with the
island in the lake close by, offered themselves as
hunting grounds, while wasps of every kind, the istic tribes
as well as the extreme individualists of the
solitary species,
The Vespas first
social-
were waiting
that
be studied.
had aroused our
attention, and a nest
in the
convenient arrangement.
been dangerous to
to
life
interest received
ground proved
our
to be a most
Experiments that would have
and limb had we
tried
them with
a paper nest hanging in the open, were easy here so long
we kept calm and
unflurried. Intent upon their own and affairs, unsuspicious of evil, perhaps because they knew themselves to be armed against aggression, they
as
accepted our presence, at
we
first
with indifference
;
but as
after day we must have become landand them, perhaps before the summer was over they considered us really a part of home. While poor humanity takes comfort in a mid-day sat there
day
marks
to
siesta,
wasps love the heat of noontide, and with every
rise
in temperature they fly faster, 2
hum
louder,
and
COMMUNAL rejoice
more and more
trance to the
LIFE
in the fullness of
life.
The
en-
Vespa nest was but an inch across; and once in and out in a hurrying throng,
when they were going jostling
each other in their eagerness, we counted the
number
that passed, one taking the entrances
and one
WASP EATING
In ten minutes
the exits. left
the nest
five
hundred and ninety-two
and two hundred and forty-seven went
in,
we saw eight hundred and thirty-nine or about eighty to the minute. This must be a strong swarm, wonderful indeed when we thought that it had all come
so that
from a single queen mother.
made an
We imagined how she
had
early start, digging a hole in the ground, build-
ing within
it
a paper
comb with 3
five or six cells
around a
WASPS, SOCIAL
and laying therein some neuter eggs; month in attending carefully
central column,
how
AND SOLITARY
she had then spent a
to the beginnings of things, feeding the
young larvae as they hatched, and watching over them through their childhood and youth; and then how her solicitude was rewarded by the
filial
devotion with which this
first set
of
workers took upon themselves the labor of excavating,
and feeding the young, everything indeed except the egg-laying. These queens, surrounded though they
building,
are by respectful
worst of
it
in
and
attentive subjects,
have much the
our estimation, never going out, and passing
Through the early summer only neuters are produced, but when fall approaches the their lives in a dull routine.
future generation
is
males and females.
provided for by the development of
The
activity of the little colony
by the season, for as the days
limited
males and females leave the nest and mate, and a
little
both males and workers lose ambition, become
later
inactive
and
finally die, while the
protected corners to reappear
and
is
grow colder the
larvae, left
moulds and comes
to
queens hide away in
in the spring.
unfed and uncared
to hordes of insects,
The
eggs
for, become a prey to and thus the swarm
an end.
We had once made some not very successful attempts to find out
whether spiders had a sense of color; and seeing 4
COMMUNAL
much more
that the conditions were
present subjects, test
their
sheets of
LIFE
we thought
favorable with our
would be a good plan
it
knowledge of the spectrum.
stiff
paper two
ting a circular hole four in the centre of each,
Providing six
feet square, colored respectively
and two shades
red, blue, green, pink,
to
and one
of yellow,
and
cut-
half inches in diameter
we began our experiments by
pla-
cing the red paper over the nest so that the entrance was
The outgoing wasps dashed upward
clearly exposed.
without noticing
it,
but great was the confusion
Thrown
the homecomers.
among
out of their reckoning, they
clamored about us in ever increasing swarms.
Like
Homer's wasps, " All rise in
arms and with a general cry
Assert their domes and buzzing progeny,"
was approaching, when one, a pioneer of thought, determined to go into the hole, which did not look like the right hole, although it was where the right and a
crisis (for us)
hole ought to be;
and
so potent
one the others followed.
become accustomed
to
is
example that one by
Three hours
later they
the change, and went
in
had
and out
as usual.
They had
noticed the paper
;
that
was plain enough,
but did they notice the redness?
To
things as they were for two days,
and then substituted
5
test this,
we
left
AND SOLITARY
WASPS, SOCIAL
blue paper for the red. Again the confusion, the swarming of fervent legions,
the noisy expostulations,
the
descent of one after another; but this time they settled
down
to their ordinary routine in a little
On
hours.
the following day
we removed
more than two the blue paper,
leaving the grass around the nest exposed
;
and
this
proved a new source of mystification, but not so serious as the others.
were
still
At the end of an hour twenty-five or
thirty
buzzing about, needing the guidance of the
blue paper to get inside, and entering at once
was replaced. As we
new
from day
when
it
to
day a
few of the wasps became entirely reconciled to our
inter-
tried
colors
and paid no attention to the changes, while the others grew more or less accustomed to the idea of mutaference,
bility,
and were but
showed
little
disturbed, although they
their consciousness of
a few circles before going
in.
still
each alteration by making
We once placed some dark
red nasturtiums on light yellow paper near the nest, and
found that more than one third of the homecoming
wasps flew ing.
to
them and hovered over them before
When light yellow nasturtiums,
paper in
color,
six noticed
nearly matching the
were substituted, only one out of
them; and as the odor was as strong
case as the other,
it
enter-
thirty-
in
one
would seem that the color was the
attracting force.
6
COMMUNAL Our
final color
LIFE
experiment was to
remain for a day or two, giving time for
become
familiar with
and then
it,
the blue paper
let
all
the wasps to
to leave
it
ground a foot and a half away, while replacing This gave a
yellow.
that they
false nest
on the it
with
surrounded by the color
had been associating with the entrance, and a by a new
true nest surrounded
color.
In the next ten
minutes two hundred and seventy wasps came home, and every one of them went to the false nest.
above
it,
began
to excavate,
Many
others entered the hole in the paper,
and made quite a depression
ground; but gradually they found
Three hours
later seventy-six
their
circled
and some in the
way home.
wasps entered the
false
and at evening they were still visiting numbers but on the next day we saw only
nest in five minutes, it
in goodly
;
two that were deceived.
On
successive days
we
substituted red for yellow,
green for red, and so on, always with similar results,
although the wasps became more and more accustomed to the vicissitudes of their
look for the hole
itself
life,
and
after a time
seemed
without relying upon the color to
guide them. They found their nest under a color new
them much more
to
readily than
away and the ground green paper was around
when
the paper
entirely
left
the
their nest,
7
exposed.
to
was taken
Once when
and the wind
AND SOLITARY
WASPS, SOCIAL blew
it
over the hole so that they could not enter, at least
one hundred collected, nest; free,
when we
many
lifted the
of
them
settling in the false
green paper, leaving the hole
only three or four entered, but
when we put
in place they rushed in six or seven at a time.
it
back
It
was
plainly the color that directed them.
This was a nearly rainless summer,
a condition
extremely favorable to wasp development. plied
and grew
until the
and no wonder,
whole country-side complained,
for houses
were
full of
them, and at meal-
times they gathered at the table with the
How
family. It
did they
Nests multi-
members of
the
know when dinner was ready
?
could not have been by the sight, unfamiliar to them,
of cooked food
smell
;
was
then, through the
it,
sense of
?
Many
were the questions that we asked
in vain of
our Vespas, but here was one that they could readily
be made to answer.
We
rolled
up two bundles, one
nothing but gauze, and another, like
but containing some laid
to
warm
one side of the
it
in appearance,
chicken bones
nest,
of
;
these were
the color of the gauze
was placed.
matching that of the paper on which
it
The wasps
though loaded
in returning to the nest, even
with food, could not settled thickly
upon
resist the
appetizing odor, and
the bone bundle, trying their best
8
COMMUNAL to penetrate within,
noticed.
As
LIFE
while the empty gauze was un-
the bones grew cold
less attention,
and dry they attracted
but two days later they were occasion-
ally visited.
killed
Having
two wasps that had alighted on the
ground, by striking them with a folded paper,
we took
them up and placed one of them at a distance, so that it was entirely hidden in the grass. Five settled above and
it,
visited
had
after they
it
away
several others, while the spot
by
killed
minutes.
had carried
them drew
to
it
nine wasps within fifteen
;
of scent
where
but the powerful
oils of
peppermint and wintergreen, although little
was
upon which we
Thus they seemed very keen
animal matter was concerned
the place
noticed, aroused
attention, perhaps because they indicated nothing
of interest to them.
Our experiments on
hearing met with negative
results.
The wasps seemed insensible to any noise we could make or that we could produce by whistles of various degrees of shrillness.
This of course does not show that
they cannot hear, and any one
enough will
to disturb
them
remember how
in the
their
who has been
unfortunate
neighborhood of
their nest
angry buzzing seemed to serve
as a battle cry to gather all the
members
of the clan for
the attack.
9
/ '
*
ILU
L
-
I
V
WASPS, SOCIAL Our Vespas began when darkness
fell
being able to
nest,
work an hour or two
to
and did not stop
rise,
AND SOLITARY
until dusk.
One
after sun-
cloudy evening
early they continued to return to the fly to
the right spot without any hesi-
although our vision did not permit us to see the
tation,
down on our knees and
opening without going
At
closely.
last
it
grew perfectly
dark, and we
looking
stuffed a
handkerchief into the hole, with the result that seventyfive,
coming home without a ray
of light to guide them,
were shut out, and were found clustered about the spot
on the following morning.
We wanted to worker bird
estimate the
and
in a day,
call,
we went
amount
so, rising
of labor
done by a
one morning at the
out into the freshness of dawn, and for
an hour had the world
to ourselves ; but a little before five
a few straggling wasps that had stayed out
began
to bring in loads,
fairly
under way.
counted
all
and by
From
all
half past four until twelve
all this activity
We once
and took out a
raised a
little
we
and 3362 coming
there seemed to be no
pleasure excursions, for each one carried food returning,
night
half past seven they were
that passed, 4534 going out
home; and with
first
pellet of earth
garden from the
when
when
leaving.
pellets that were
dropped on our porch table where we kept a bowl of water.
Wasps
are great drinkers,
10
and when they
find
COMMUNAL
LIFE
such a provision they come frequently to refresh them-
dropping their loads as they
selves,
of holding
on
alight.
to their loads until they settle
This habit
down may
perhaps make them a factor in extending the boundaries of plant distribution, both under ordinary conditions
and when, as must often happen with flying so high, they are
blown
little
creatures
to long distances
from
home.
Having kept
close track not only of the
numbers, but of
the hours, each count
being five
made
to cover
we were
minutes,
able to calculate that
an average
trip occu-
pied forty-three minutes.
When we met
these
wasps
garden
seemed
never
they to
the
in
be hurry-
ing,
and had the
of
amusing
air
them-
selves ; but they
PAPER NEST WITH SIDE REMOVED TO
must
SHOW CONSTRUCTION OF COMBS
be faithful workers to accomplish so much. lished
that
The
when food
curious fact has been estab-
is
very plentiful the workers
II
AND SOLITARY
WASPS, SOCIAL
begin to lay male eggs, thus taking from the queen a
and leaving her
part of her burden
neuters and females.
was found,
at the
The
nest that
free
end of the season,
we opened had from two
produce
we were watching to contain
in various stages of development,
wasps
to
4661
and others
to four thousand.
This
that
no-
is
thing to the social wasps of China, where a single house-
hold bers
is
;
made up
but China
of is
from
fifteen to
a thickly populated country, and per-
human
haps with wasps as with live in
mem-
twenty thousand
beings several families
a single domicile.
Outside of their wonderful social instincts our wasps are found wanting in the higher gifts of emotion tellect.
When we
them near the in
nest,
number
and
them and placed their nearest relatives wasted no time
killed a
of
mourning, nor yet in revenge, but calmly cut up the
bodies and fed them to the ever hungry young ones.
we
in-
If
placed some rich and tempting morsels at a distance,
two or three would discover them, and would go back
and
forth all
day without
telling the others
about
ants would have done under like circumstances.
we
it,
as
When
obstructed the opening to their nest by lightly laying
blades of grass across, the day passed without ring to the wasps to
lift
its
occur-
them away, although they
suf-
fered the greatest inconvenience in getting in and out,
12
COMMUNAL
LIFE
crawling laboriously through, and in some instances giving up the task and flying away.
Vespa maculata, building on trees and fences, has practically the same habits as the ground wasp, germanica,
the internal structure of the nest following the
plan, while the outer wall
that of the combs,
beaten wood. to that of
of a papery substance like
is
made from
The genus
same
the scrapings of weather-
Polistes builds
combs
similar
Vespa, under porches or in any sheltered place,
and does not
inclose them. All these wasps,
when
adult,
enjoy fruit and flowers as well as animal food; but only this last is
used for the young, and
creeping along with sinister design to
is
many
a caterpillar
snatched by them
be chewed into a pulpy mass, and then fed to the
larvae.
No
calculation has been
made
of the value of
these wasps in agriculture,
and one of the things that
farmers have yet to learn
to
in orchards
Some
is
encourage their presence
and gardens.
species are said to sting the drones
and
death at the close of the season, but this habit
larvae to
is
not
fol-
lowed by V. germanica and V. maculata. Since there
no
store of provision to
be economized through the winter
the only object of such conduct
would be the merciful
one of ending their sufferings at once instead of
them perish by slow
is
starvation,
13
and we
find
letting
no evidence
WASPS, SOCIAL for
such elevated ideas.
AND SOLITARY
What makes
for the welfare of
the species they thoroughly attend to, but
beyond that
point they do not go.
The
socialism of wasps
that of bees
and
fice of self to
wonder and
of
ants,
the
human
to the state
and
is
in a less evolved state than
yet there
common good beings,
whose
is
in
it
sufficient sacri-
to excite the respectful
relations to each other
have such different standards.
Chapter
II
AMMOPHILA AND HER CATERPILLARS we had worked long on our Vespa
BEFORE we were beguiled
running after the solitary wasps. species are concerned, are
than the socials
;
The
them
immensely more numerous
over, although
summer
deed they come
is
end of the season.
Solitary in-
into the world, the generation that gave fall.
one of unmixed pleasure, and
guided though they
on the
occasionally find
laid the year before.
birth having perished in the
career
leaf,
we
of each other
they begin to emerge from the nest
which the eggs were
them
little
living happily together until the
In the early in
is
mating
solitaries, so far as
but they have only two sexes, and the
males and females usually see but after the
family
by tempting opportunities into
are,
For a time yet, free
and un-
basking in the sunshine, feeding
flowers, or sleeping at night
under some sheltering
they are hourly acquiring experience, so that
the cares of creatures of
life
their
when
descend upon them they are no longer
mere
instinct.
With
these sobering cares an
AND SOLITARY
WASPS, SOCIAL
almost absurdly heavy sense of responsibility for future generations transforms the hitherto happy-go-lucky
fe-
males into grown-up wasps with serious views on market-
Each one makes a separate nest own labor and in many cases a
ing and infant foods.
and provisions
new
nest
is
it
by her
made
among them
;
;
There
for each egg.
is
no cooperation
although in certain genera, as Aphilan-
thops and Bembex, a
number
The
together, forming a colony.
mud, and attached
of individuals build close
for shelter
eaves of buildings, or
may
nests
under
may
be
made
of
leaves, rocks, or
be burrows hollowed out in
the ground, in trees or in the stems of plants. fruit or nectar,
The
adult
but the young grub or
wasp
lives
larva
must have animal food and here the parent wasp
upon
;
shows a
rigid conservatism, each species providing the
sort of food that
has been approved by
generations, one taking beetles,
caterpillars,
flies,
its
family for
another bugs, and another
grasshoppers,
crickets,
locusts,
spiders, cockroaches, aphides, or other creatures, as the
case
may
When
be.
the egg-laying time arrives the female secures
her prey, which she either
kills
or paralyzes, places
it
in
upon it, and then, in most cases, and takes no further interest in it, going on
the nest, lays the egg closes the hole
to
make new
nests
from day
to day.
16
In some genera the
AMMOPHILA AND HER CATERPILLARS female maintains a longer connection with her offspring, not bringing
the provision at once, but returning to
all
feed the larva as
nently
grows, and leaving the nest perma-
it
only when
the grub has spun
males never acquire
admirable for the
this interest, so
development of character, and aid
The egg
the care of the family.
The
cocoon.
its
at
if
little,
all,
in
develops in from one to
three days into a footless, maggot-like creature which feeds
for
in
upon the store provided size, and entering the pupal
stage in
to
two weeks.
passes through
In the cocoon
it
increasing rapidly
it,
metamorphosis, emerging as a perfect
two or three weeks,
or, in
many
from three days
insect,
final
its
perhaps in
cases, after the winter
months have passed and summer has come again.
Most effilee,
graceful
attractive of all the
"
wasps
tournure svelte," as Fabre describes them, the
mophiles, of first
and
all
taille
Am-
the inhabitants of the garden, hold the
place in our affections.
Not
so beautiful as the blue
Pelopaeus, nor so industrious as the
little
red-girdled Try-
poxylon, their intelligence, their distinct individuality,
and
their obliging tolerance of our society
an unfailing source of most remarkable of
interest.
all
They
are,
moreover, the
genera in their stinging habits,
being supposed to use the nicest surgical lyzing their caterpillars
make them
;
skill in
para-
and few things have given us 17
WASPS, SOCIAL
AND SOLITARY
deeper pleasure than our success in following the ac-
and penetrating the secrets of their lives. In our garden we have two species of Ammophila, urnaria C restivities
and gracilis Cresson, both of them being very slenderbodied wasps of about an inch in length, gracilis all black,
son,
and urnaria with a red band around the
front
end of the
A. polita and A. vulgaris, which look
abdomen.
like urnaria, are
common
in the
sandy
fields
much
west and
south of Milwaukee.
During the
earlier part of the
summer we had
often
seen these wasps feeding upon the nectar of flowers, especially ticularly
upon
that of the sorrel, of
which they are par-
fond but at that time we gave them but pass-
ing notice.
;
One bright morning,
however, we came upon
an urnaria that was so evidently hunting, and hunting earnest, that
we gave up
The ground was Ammophila was
everything else to follow her.
covered,
patches of purslain, and
it
in
more or
less
thickly, with
was under these weeds that our
eagerly searching for her prey.
After
thoroughly investigating one plant she would pass to another,
running three or four steps and then bounding as
though she were made of thistledown and were too light remain upon the ground. she was in
full
to
We followed her easily, and as
view nearly
of the time
all
hope of witnessing the capture but ;
18
in this
we had
every
we were des-
AMMOPHILA AND HER CATERPILLARS tined to disappointment.
We had been in
attendance on
her for about a quarter of an hour when, after disappearing for a few
she
moments under
came out with a green
the thick purslain leaves,
caterpillar.
We had missed the
wonderful sight of the paralyzer at work but we had no ;
time to
bemoan our
loss, for she
was making
off at so
AMMOPHILA URNARIA CARRYING CATERPILLAR TO NEST
rapid a pace that
with her. before,
we were
well occupied in keeping
up
She hurried along with the same motion as
unembarrassed by the weight of her victim. For
sixty feet she kept to
open ground, passing between two
rows of bushes but at the end of ;
den, she plunged, very
much 19
to
this division of the gar-
our dismay, into a
field
AND SOLITARY
WASPS, SOCIAL
Here we had great difficulty in followfar from keeping to her former orderly
of standing corn.
ing her, since,
course, she zigzagged
among
the plants in the most be-
wildering fashion, although keeping a general direction
seemed quite impossible that she could know where she was going. The corn rose to a height of of northeast. It
six feet all
around us the ground was uniform ;
in appear-
ance, and, to our eyes, each group of cornstalks like every other group, tion, the
little
and
yet,
was
just
without pause or hesita-
creature passed quickly along, as
we might
through the familiar streets of our native town.
At
she paused and laid her burden down.
last
power
that has led her
fect instinct, for
is
!
the
not a blind, mechanically per-
she has traveled a
must go back one row
Ah
into the
little
She
too far.
open space that she has
already crossed, although not just at this point. Nothing like
a nest
all alike,
see our
is
visible to us
and
little
it is
;
the surface of the ground looks
with exclamations of wonder that
guide
lift
two
pellets of earth
we
which have
served as a covering to a small opening running
down
into the ground.
The way
being thus prepared, she hurries back with
her wings quivering and her whole joyful
the
triumph
mean
at the
time, have
manner betokening
completion of her task. We, in
become 20
as
much
excited over the
AMMOPHILA AND HER CATERPILLARS matter as she brings
it
mouth
to the
bles
and drags it out and delight.
How clear and
and
caterpillar,
lays
it
in her
it
down.
mandi-
of sight, leaving us full of admira-
accurate must be the observing powers
of these wonderful
little
must, for them, have
a larger stone there, a
each nest
creatures
its
own
is
Every patch of ground
character
wonder
the
all in
a pebble here,
;
grass
so temporary.
provisioned and closed up,
made
!
trifling tuft of
And
be their landmarks. interest in
of the burrow,
in herself, she catches
Then, backing
tion
She picks up the
herself.
is
of
A
-
-
these must
it is
that their
burrow
is
dug,
two or three days, and
in a
new
place with everything to
time on to the
first
of September our garden
then another
is
learn over again.
From was
this
full of
these wasps,
nation for us
tween their weather,
;
although, owing
and ours as
lost their fasci-
to a decided difference be-
what constituted pleasant our knowledge of them was gained by the
taste
all
and they never
sweat of our brows.
to
When we
wished
to utilize the cool
hours of the morning or of the late afternoon in studying them, or thought to take advantage of a cloud which cast a grateful shade over the sun at noonday, where were
our Ammophiles ? Out of sight entirely, or at best only to
be seen idling about on the flowers of the onion or 21
AND SOLITARY
WASPS, SOCIAL
At such a time they seemed
sorrel.
in
life
and no idea
to
have no mission
But when the
of duty.
air
was
clear
and bright and the mercury rose higher and higher, all was changed. Their favorite working hours were from eleven in the morning to three in the afternoon, and
when they did work they threw It
was well
that
it
was
so, for
their
whole souls into
they certainly needed
it.
all
and perseverance that they could muster for such wearisome and disappointing labor. Hour after the enthusiasm
hour was passed to
show
on the
at the
end of it. Urnaria hunted on bare ground,
and most
purslain,
These were examined
down
and often there was nothing
in search,
the stems
of all
on the bean-plants.
carefully, the
wasp going up and
and looking under every
leaf
;
but the
search was so frequently unsuccessful that in estimating their
work we are
inclined to think that they can scarcely
average one caterpillar a day.
In
this species, as in every
we have found a most
one that we have studied,
interesting variation
different individuals, not only in
acter
and
intellect.
among
the
methods, but in char-
While one was beguiled from her
hunting by every sorrel blossom she passed, another stuck to her work with indefatigable perseverance. While
one stung her caterpillar so carelessly and made her nest in so shiftless a
way
that her
22
young could survive only
AMMOPHILA AND HER CATERPILLARS through some lucky chance, another devoted herself to these duties not only with conscientious thoroughness,
but with an apparent craving after that
was touching
artistic perfection
to see.
The method employed by
the
their prey is
more complex than
tory wasp.
The
Ammophiles
in stinging
that of any other preda-
with which they provision their
larvae
made up of thirteen segments, and each of has its own nervous centre or ganglion. Hence if
nests are
these
the caterpillar
is
to
be reduced to a state of immobility,
or to a state so nearly approaching immobility that the
egg is
may
be safely laid upon
it,
a single sting, such as
given by some of the Pompilidae to their captured
spiders, will
be scarcely
sufficient. All this
Fabre's "Souvenirs," and yet
pared
to believe that
we were
we knew from
not at
all
pre-
any plain American wasp could
supply us with such a thrilling performance as that of the Gallic hirsuta, which he so dramatically describes.
We were, however, important
moment
how and where
most anxious that
to
we might
be present at the
all-
see for ourselves just
urnaria stings her victim.
For a whole week of scorching summer weather we lived in the
bean patch, scorning
fatigue.
We
quoted to
each other the example of Fabre's daughter Claire,
who
followed Odynerus with unfaltering zeal until a sun23
AND SOLITARY
WASPS, SOCIAL stroke laid her low.
hunted;
we
We attended scores of wasps as they
we threw
ran,
ourselves
upon the ground,
we scrambled along on our hands and knees perate endeavors to keep
them
in view,
in our des-
sometimes with
our eyes upon the wasps themselves and sometimes pursuing their shadows, which, like those of coming events,
were cast before
;
and yet they escaped
After we had
us.
kept one in sight for an hour or more, some sudden flight
would carry her At little
larvae
lead
last,
away, and
all
our labor was
however, our day came.
We
which we could drop
them fly
leaf
in
lost.
were doing a
hunting on our own account, hoping
urnaria
bean
far
to find
some
view of the wasps and thus
to display their powers,
when we saw an
up from the ground to the underside of a and knock down a small green caterpillar.
Breathless with an excitement which will be understood
by those who have tasted the joy of such a moment, we
hung over the actors in our little drama. The ground was bare, we were close by and could see every motion distinctly. Nothing more perfect could have been desired.
The wasp
attacked at once, but was rudely repulsed,
the caterpillar rolling
and unrolling
itself
rapidly
and
with the most violent contortions of the whole body.
Again and again
its
adversary descended, but failed to
24
AMMOPHILA AND HER CATERPILLARS The
gain a hold.
caterpillar, in its struggles, flung itself
here and there over the ground, and had there been any grass or other covering near by
might have reached a
it
place of partial safety; but there was no shelter within reach,
and
alighting over its
wasp succeeded in end, and in grasping
at the fifth attack the it,
body firmly
near the anterior
Standing high on her
in her mandibles.
long legs and disregarding the continued struggles of her victim, she lifted
her
it
from the ground, curved the end
abdomen under
its
body, and darted her sting be-
From
tween the third and fourth segments. there
was a complete
of
movement on
cessation of
Limp and
of the unfortunate caterpillar.
this instant
the part it
helpless,
could offer no further opposition to the will of
con-
its
For some moments the wasp remained motionand then, withdrawing her sting, she plunged it
queror. less,
successively between the third
and the second, and
between the second and the
segments.
The a
caterpillar
moment
ing, seized
the it
wasp
left
lying
above
circled
it,
on the ground. For
and
then, descend-
again, further back this time,
great deliberation stings,
was now
first
and nicety
of action gave
it
and with four
more
beginning between the ninth and tenth segments
and progressing backward. Urnaria, probably feeling
-
25
-
as
we
certainly did
-
-
a
WASPS, SOCIAL
AND SOLITARY and a
reaction from the strain of the last few minutes, relief at the
labors. to
completion of her task,
now
mean
time, almost
directed upward.
made
legs, standing, in
on her head, with her abdomen
She then gave her face a thorough
washing and rubbing with her she had
from her
Alighting on the ground close by, she proceeded
smooth her body with her long hind
the
rested
first legs,
a complete and satisfactory
and not toilet
until
did she
return to the caterpillar.
We saw Ammophila capture her prey only three times during the whole summer; but from these observations
and from the condition
of her caterpillars taken at vari-
ous times from nests, her method seems to be wonderfully close to that of hirsuta,
amount
Thus
with just about the same
of variation in different individuals. in
our second example, she stung the
first
three
segments in the regular order, the third, the second, and lastly
(and most persistently) the
first.
without a pause, to sting the fourth, seventh, stopping at this point
segments untouched.
and
In our
first
She then went on, fifth,
sixth,
and
leaving the posterior
example,
it
will
remembered, the middle segments were spared.
be
The
stinging being completed, she proceeded to the process
known
as
malaxation,
which
consists
in
repeatedly
squeezing the neck of the caterpillar, or other victim, 26
AMMOPHILA AND HER CATERPILLARS between the mandibles, the subject of the treatment being turned around and around so that
all sides
may be
equally affected.
In our third case a caterpillar which we had caught
was placed
in front of a
wasp
had
just after she
carried
the second larva into her nest. She seemed rather indifferent to finally
it,
passing
picked
it
tween the third
it
once or twice as she ran about, but
up and gave it one prolonged sting beand fourth segments. She then spent a
AMMOPHILA URNARIA STINGING CATERPILLAR
long time in squeezing the neck, pinching again, after
which
showed no further further study.
it
was
left
it
again and
on the ground and as she
interest in
;
it
we
carried
it
home
for
AND SOLITARY
WASPS, SOCIAL
In the three captures, then, that came under our observation, all the caterpillars being of the
and almost exactly
of the
same
methods were employed. In the given at the extremities, the
size,
same
species
three different
seven stings were
first,
middle segments being
untouched, and no malaxation was practiced.
left
In the
second, seven stings again, but given in the anterior and
middle segments, followed by third, only
In the
slight malaxation.
one sting was given, but the malaxation was
prolonged and
severe.
Let us now compare these variations with those of Fabre. ferent
In his
first
case the sting entered at twelve dif-
between the
points, beginning
first
and second
segments and progressing regularly backward.
was no malaxation. second, and
and
first
In his second example the
segments were stung
nine stings being given in
In his
all,
third,
in the order given,
thereafter each succeeding segment
following.
There
up
to the ninth,
with careful malaxation
later experiments,
which seem
been numerous, he found that as a usual thing
to
have
all
the
segments were stung, although the posterior three or four were occasionally spared, but that the order in
which they were operated upon, as well as the amount of malaxation,
Our
was very
variable.
conclusions, then, as to
28
Ammophila's methods of
AMMOPHILA AND HER CATERPILLARS stinging agree fairly well with those of is
Fabre
;
but there
one important exception. In his cases the middle seg-
ments, upon one of which the egg
is
laid in
our species
as well as in his, were in-
variably stung,
and
he
this
considers a point of extreme
In one of our
importance.
cases the middle segments CATERPILLAR WITH EGG OF
Were not touched.
AMMOPHILA URNARIA
The
point in which our
observations differ most widely from those of Fabre
is
in the condition of the caterpillars after the stinging.
He
seems
to
have found that they always lived a long
time, but in a motionless or nearly motionless state
and he dwells
at length
upon
;
the necessity of both of
these conditions, since he believes that while the
larva tion
must have
perfectly fresh food,
would imperil
wasp any violent mo-
As a matter
its safety.
of fact
we
found a wide variation in the thoroughness with which the wasps performed their task.
We
had, in
all,
fifteen
upon which urnaria had worked her will and while a few of them fulfilled to a nicety the concaterpillars
ditions
;
which Fabre believes
them were
far
from doing
three days, others a
little
so.
to
be imperative, most of
Some
longer, while
29
of
them
still
lived only
others showed
AND SOLITARY
WASPS, SOCIAL signs of
end of two weeks. Urnaria
at the
life
stores
more than one instance
the
second one died and became discolored before the
first
two
and
caterpillars,
in
one was entirely eaten.
The wasp
might have been expected, find
larva did not, as
fault with this arrange-
ment, but proceeded to attack number two with good appetite, ate
it
all
up, and then spun
cocoon as
its
though nothing unpleasant had occurred.
The second
condition was also violated.
In one case
the bite of the newly hatched larva caused the caterpillar to rear
upon end
though the
Another
little
in so violent a
manner
that
it
looked as
creature would surely be dislodged.
caterpillar kept
up a continuous wriggling withwhen it was touched it
out any external stimulation, and rolled
and
about almost as these
yet the egg
was not shaken
which received but a less,
fectly, lying
do
in a healthy state,
off.
The
caterpillar
single sting, although not motion-
would have been a
either of these.
larvae
Others
safer repository for the egg than fulfilled
Fabre's condition per-
immovable except when stimulated, and then
responding only by a slight quivering of the legs or skin.
Among
the fifteen caterpillars that
we have taken
from the nests of urnaria three kinds are represented, twelve of them belonging to one species, two to the second, and one to the third.
30
AMMOPHILA AND HER CATERPILLARS The
which
upon the side of the sixth or seventh segment, hatches in from two to three days; the larva spends from six days to two weeks in eating, and egg,
then spins
The
its
laid
pale yellowish cocoon.
nesting habits of urnaria closely resemble those
of the other
members
ous observers. in
is
The
spot chosen
open ground, but
leaves of
some
of the genus, as reported
plant.
in firm soil,
is
much more The
plan
by
vari-
sometimes
frequently under the is
a very simple one.
NEST OF AMMOPHILA
A
tunnel of about an inch in length leads to the pocket
in
which the
caterpillars are stored.
ing of the walls in any part. every nest that
We
we opened, and
siderable variation in the
minor
There
is
no harden-
took pains to draw
was a very con-
there details,
such as the ob-
liquity of the entrance tunnel, the shape of the pocket,
AND SOLITARY
WASPS, SOCIAL and the angle
at
which the tunnel and pocket were
joined.
The work legs.
is
done with the mandibles and the
When it has proceeded so far
hidden, she begins to
In doing
this she
flying a little
first
that the
wasp is partly carry the earth away from the nest.
backs up to the edge of the opening and,
way, gives a
sort of
flirt
which throws the
pellet that she carries in her mandibles to a distance.
She then alights where she fore she runs
back
back on the wing.
is
and pauses a moment
to the hole, or, in
some
be-
cases, darts
We watched the process of nest-mak-
ing five times during the
summer. In the
Ammophila, having made her
instance
first
excavation, ran
and
off
some search returned with a good- sized lump of earth. This she laid over the opening, which was now after
entirely hidden.
She then flew
by, but after ten minutes she
to the
bean patch
close
came back and looked
at
her nest. It was so neatly covered as to be almost indistinguishable, but to this fastidious
little
creature some-
thing seemed lacking.
She pulled away the cover,
ried out three or four
more
loads,
car-
and then began
to
search for another piece for closing.
After a time she
came hurrying back with a lump of
earth, but
close to the nest she
dropped
it,
and ran
concluded that
off in
it
would not
another direction. 32
when do,
Presently
AMMOPHILA AND HER CATERPILLARS she found one which fitted into the hole exactly, and after placing
it
she brought a
much
she put above and to one side.
and surveyed the whole, and
it
smaller piece which
She then stood back
seemed
to us that
we
could read pride and satisfaction in her mien. She then flew away,
and we supposed
was completed. however,
that that stage of the
Upon coming back two
we found
that she
had been
improvements, as a number of
little
trying
some more
pellets
had been
succeeded in finding a caterpillar, since
burrow a few days
came
later,
This wasp, by the way, never
piled up over the nest.
the
hours
work
later
it
was
still
when we opened empty. Perhaps
some untimely end. Of the other wasps that we saw making a temporary
she
to
closure of their nests, one
deep down
into the
wedged a good-sized stone
neck of the burrow and then
the space above, solidly, with smaller stones
Another placed two lumps of earth
just
and
filled
earth.
below the
sur-
face of the ground, filled the opening with pellets loosely
thrown whole.
in,
fitted neatly into the
Although
it
nest closed while she is
light dust over the
The others used only two or three lumps of earth,
which they surface.
and then kicked some
no invariable rule
is
opening just below the
usual for urnaria to leave her
is off
searching for her prey, there
in the matter,
33
even for single individ-
AND SOLITARY
WASPS, SOCIAL
Once having seen a wasp dig her nest and close it we drew some radiating lines from the spot, in the
uals.
up,
light dust that
When we
again.
we might
covered the place, that
find
returned, two hours later, the
it
same
wasp had made a nest four or five inches distant from the first one, and had left it wide open, while she had gone off to
search for her caterpillar.
She had probably been
alarmed by the marks that we had made, and had it
new
necessary to dig a
lay her egg
We
nest,
felt
but being in a hurry to
had omitted the usual process
of closing
it.
witnessed the storing of the caterpillar and the final
closing.
From Fabre we
learn
close the nest as soon as
the provisioning
is
to
He
it
argentata and sabulosa
has been made, at least when
be postponed until the next day,
while holosericea leaves stored.
that
it
open
until
suggests an explanation
it
is
completely
for this variation
by dwelling upon the inconvenience that would it
result
were opened every time that the wasp brought
caterpillar, since holosericea stores larvae instead of
shall
out?
five
in a
or six small
one or two large ones. But what, then,
be said of polita and yarrowii, which, while they
also store a close
up
if
number
of small caterpillars, take pains to
and conceal the entrance every time they come We see the same habit in other genera where the 34
AMMOPHILA AND HER CATERPILLARS mother continually passes in and out, as
in
Bembex
and Oxybelus. Fabre thinks that hirsuta has the habit, unusual
for
Ammophila, of catching her prey first and then digging the hole in which she bestows it. As she takes only one large caterpillar she
closing the nest
As has been
is
thus relieved of the necessity of
more than once. said, urnaria usually
hunts a long time
before she finds her caterpillar, and one or two days
may
pass before anything
During
prolonged search she often revisits the spot, and
this
thus keeps fresh the the
put into the nest.
is
first
caterpillar
memory
is
of
came under our
As soon
stored she lays an egg on
few hours
notice
we
it,
as
and
The second one may be
then closes the nest as before.
brought in within a
its locality.
;
but in one instance that
feel sure that the interval
We saw the interment of the
was as much as three days.
second caterpillar, and upon excavating, found on the first
least
one a larva at
least
a day old;
we suppose
that at
two days had elapsed between the laying and the
hatching of the egg.
When
the provisioning
is
completed the time arrives
for the final closing of the nest
;
and
in this, as in all the
Ammophila, the character of the work differs with the individual. For example, of two wasps that processes of
35
WASPS, SOCIAL we saw
close their nests
two or three little it
dust,
all
by a
AND SOLITARY
on the same day, one wedged
pellets into the top of the hole,
and then smoothed the surface
within five minutes. spirit of
was an
first filling
over, finishing
This one seemed possessed
hurry and bustle, and did not believe in
spending time on non-essentials. trary,
kicked in a
artist,
an
idealist.
The
other,
on the con-
She worked for an hour,
the neck of the burrow with fine earth which
was jammed down with much energy,
this part of the
work being accompanied by a loud and cheerful humand next arranging the surface of the ground ming, with scrupulous care, and sweeping every particle of dust to a distance.
Even then she was not
went scampering around, hunting for some to
crown the whole.
leaf to the spot,
and embarrassed
First she tried to
satisfied,
but
fitting object
drag a withered
but the long stem stuck in the ground her.
Relinquishing
this,
she ran along
a branch of the plant under which she was working and,
up from the ground below a goodbut the effort was too much for her, and she
leaning over, picked sized stone
;
turned a somersault on to the ground. to bring a large
lump
of earth
;
She then started
but this evidently did not
come up to her ideal, for she dropped it after a moment, and seizing another dry leaf carried it successfully to the spot
and placed
it
directly over the nest.
36
A
third
AMMOPHILA AND HER CATERPILLARS was interme-
instance of the final closing of the nest
between these two, the work occupying twenty
diate
The wasp
minutes.
dropped
of fine earth,
We
put a plug well down, then
first
in several large pellets,
and
finally
brushed in a quantity
smoothed the surface
had another much
less
worthy example, one,
deed, that went to the extreme of carelessness.
saw her
in the
little
morning carrying her
She frequently dropped
the field.
distance,
over.
We first
caterpillar across
and ran or flew
it
and when she took
it
in-
to a
again the venter
was sometimes up and sometimes down, whichever
way
it
happened.
Her
beneath the surface, in, it
was
visible
was a very poor affair just and after the caterpillar was carried
from above.
loose particles of earth
of the
ground a
nest
little
different as possible
She
filled
the hole with
and then scratched the surface
in a perfunctory sort of
way, as
from the painstaking labor that
we had been accustomed to
That afternoon
in her sisters.
we opened the nest and removed its contents. The next morning we saw this wasp bringing home her second caterpillar.
She was much puzzled and disturbed
destruction of her nest,
and a by.
and hunted
half, leaving the caterpillar
We
for
37
for
at the
an hour
on the ground near
could not help feeling sorry that
rupted the contented routine of her
it
life.
we had
She
inter-
finally
gave
AND SOLITARY
WASPS, SOCIAL up
in despair,
and we took possession of the deserted
caterpillar.
Just here must be told the story of one
whose individuality stands out
in
little
wasp
our minds more
dis-
than that of any of the others.
We
remember
her as the most fastidious and perfect
little
worker of
tinctly
the whole season, so nice
means love,
to
and
In
filling
bit
away
was she
in her adaptation of
ends, so busy and contented
in her labor of
so pretty in her pride over the completed work.
up her
nest she put her head
down
into
the loose earth from the sides, letting
the bottom of the burrow,
and
had accumulated, jammed
down with
it
it
was
level
and
fall to
then, after a quantity
her head. Earth
was then brought from the outside and pressed then more was bitten from the sides. When, at filling
it
in,
and
last,
the
with the ground, she brought a quantity
of fine grains of dirt to the spot,
pebble in her mandibles, used as
and picking up a small it
a
hammer
in
pound-
ing them down with rapid strokes, thus making this spot as hard and firm as the surrounding surface. Before
we could
recover from our astonishment at this
performance she had dropped her stone and was bringing
more
earth.
We
then threw ourselves
ground that not a motion might be
lost,
down on and
in a
the
mo-
ment we saw her pick up the pebble and again pound 7
38
AMMOPHILA AND HER CATERPILLARS the earth into place with
it,
hammering now here and Once more the whole pro-
now
there until
cess
was repeated, and then the
all
was
level.
little
creature, all un-
conscious of the commotion that she had aroused in
AMMOPHILA URNARIA USING STONE TO POUND DOWN EARTH OVER NEST
our minds,
and
- -
unconscious, indeed, of our very existence
intent only
gave one
final,
on doing her work and doing
it
well,
comprehensive glance around and flew
away.
We are claiming a great deal for Ammophila when we say that she improvised a tool and
39
made
intelligent use
AND SOLITARY
WASPS, SOCIAL of
it,
for such actions are rare even
among
the higher
animals; but fortunately our observation does not stand alone, although
time that
it
we supposed
of a similar occurrence
University,
be the case at the
this to
was made. Some weeks
we wrote
by Dr.
to
W. Williston,
S.
him on
seeing a note
later,
of
Kansas
the subject. In his reply
he said that he had waited for a year before venturing
remarkable a
to publish his observation, fearing that so
statement would not be credited. teresting that
we quote
it
His account
is
so in-
at length.
Even the casual observer,
to
whom
all
insects are bugs,
cannot help but be struck by the great diversity and
number is
of the fossorial
Hymenoptera
of the plains.
often inaccessible, trees there are few or none,
in places is the vegetation at all
abundant.
proportion of insects, hence, find
breed
in holes in the
favored
localities.
Especially
is
A much larger
necessary to live or
it
ground, than
is
this
the case in
made by
more
the case with the
Hymenoptera, great numbers and many species thus breed in excavations
Water
and only
of
which
themselves.
While packing specimens on an open space, uncovered by buffalo grass, in the extreme western part of Kansas, the early part of last July, the attention of a friend and
myself was attracted by the numerous wasps that were constantly alighting upon the ground.
baked surface showed no indications it
was not
till
we had
attentively
40
The
hard, smooth
of disturbance,
and
watched the insects that
AMMOPHILA AND HER CATERPILLARS we learned what they were
The wasp
doing.
is
a very
slender one, more than an inch in length, with a slender,
abdomen
pedicellate
Ammophila
;
known
is
it
yarrowii Cres.
to
entomologists as
They were so numerous that
one was distracted by their very singling out different individuals,
multiplicity,
we were enabled
by
but,
to verify
each detail of their operations. An insect, alighting, ran about on the smooth, hard surface till it had found a suitable spot to begin
its
excavation, which was
made about
a
quarter of an inch in diameter, nearly vertical, and carried to a depth of about four inches, as
a
number
into a
of them.
rounded
pellet
The and
was shown by opening was formed
earth, as removed,
carefully carried to the neighbor-
ing grass and dropped. For the first half of an inch or so the hole was made of a slightly greater diameter. When the excavation had been carried to the required depth, the
wasp, after a survey of the premises, flying away, soon returned with a large pebble in carefully deposited
its
mandibles, which
within the opening;
over the entrance upon her four posterior she, for
it
was evident
it
then, standing feet,
she (I say
that they were all females) rapidly
and most amusingly scraped the dust with her two front feet, "hand over hand," back beneath her, till she had filled
the hole above the stone to the top.
The operation
so far was remarkable enough, but the next procedure
more
so.
When
faction, she
she had heaped up the dirt to her
was
satis-
again flew away and immediately returned
with a smaller pebble, perhaps an eighth of an inch in diameter, and then standing
41
more nearly
erect, with the
AND SOLITARY
WASPS, SOCIAL
front feet folded beneath her, she pressed all
down
the dust
over and about the opening, smoothing off the surface,
and accompanying the action with a peculiar rasping sound. After all this was done, and she spent several minutes each time in thus stamping the earth so that only a keen eye could detect any abrasion of the surface, she laid aside the little
flight,
pebble and flew away to be gone some
Soon, however, she comes back with a heavy
minutes.
scarcely able to sustain the soft green larva, as long
The
as herself, that she brings.
ground, a
little
to
one
side,
larva
when, going
is
upon the where
laid
to the spot
she had industriously labored, by a few, rapid strokes she
throws out the dust and withdraws the stone cover, laying it
Next, the larva is dragged down the hole, where for a few minutes, afterwards returning remains wasp
aside.
the
and closing up the entrance precisely as before. This, we thought, was the end, and supposed that the wasp would
now be
off
about her other
affairs,
but not so
returns with another larva, precisely like the
;
soon she
first,
and the
whole operation is again repeated. And not only the second time, but again and again, till four or five of the larvae have been stored up for the sustainment of her future Once, while a wasp had gone down the hole with a larva, my friend quietly removed the door stone that offspring.
she had placed by the entrance.
about for her door, but not finding the honesty of
leaving her this
Returning, she looked it,
apparently mistrusted
a neighbor, which had just descended,
own door temptingly
pebble and was making
off
42
with
near. it,
She purloined
when
the rightful
AMMOPHILA AND HER CATERPILLARS owner appeared and gave chase, compelling her
to relin-
it.
quish
The
things that struck us as most remarkable were the
unerring judgment in the selection of a pebble of precisely the right size to fit the entrance, and the use of the small
pebble
in
smoothing down and packing the
over the
soil
opening, together with the instinct that taught
remove every evidence
that
had
earth
the
them
been
to
dis-
turbed.
Since the first
Ammophiles
and then do
of our species
their hunting
it
make
their nests
follows that they
must
sometimes carry their prey for a considerable distance.
The most ambitious attempt of this kind witnessed was made by gracilis. The wasp was pillar,
first
which projected
it,
We
could not
we
ever
seen carrying a large green cater-
body, across the potato den.
that
tell
at both ends field at
how
beyond her own
the lower end of the gar-
far she
had already brought
but judging by the direction from which she was
coming, and by the fact that
we had never
species of caterpillar in the garden, she
come through moved along potato
field,
the fence from the
seen that
had probably
woods beyond.
She
briskly over the remaining part of the
and then through an adjoining bean patch This had been a place of much anx-
into the corn field.
iety to us earlier in the
summer but now ;
43
the corn
had
WASPS, SOCIAL
AND SOLITARY
been stacked and we could follow her without
So far she had been going due south
;
but
difficulty.
now
she
made
a turn and plunged into the long, tangled grass which
grew around and among some
overgrown rasp-
large,
berry bushes.
To
keep track of her here seemed a hope-
but
we
resolved to do our best,
less task,
The wasp worked
anxiously after.
two inches above the
and followed
way along about ground and very much below the her
top of the grass, clinging to the blades with her feet and
making
When
surprisingly good progress.
half
way
through the raspberry bushes she carried the caterpillar
up on
to a branch, deposited
it
there,
and
after circling
about to take her bearings, flew away, doubtless to her nest and to
make
visit
sure that she was going in the right
direction.
We,
ourselves,
tired eyes
The
were very glad of the chance
and nerves from the
to rest
strain of following her.
journey, so far, had occupied nearly an hour, at
almost every instant of which
it
had been exceedingly
difficult to
keep her in view. But for our united
we should
certainly have failed.
While standing guard over the that first
our
it
moved
its
head from side
caterpillar
to side,
we
efforts
noticed
showing that the
segment could not have been severely stung, as
usually the case in the
work 44
of urnaria.
is
AMMOPHILA AND HER CATERPILLARS In
five
minutes the wasp returned, and, with the air of
feeling that everything
and carried
it
was
right,
picked up her burden
laboriously through the remaining bushes
and then through the grassy space that edged the garden, as far as the rail fence which separated this part of the grounds from the woods. Without a pause she climbed
on
to this fence to the height of the
second
through, and flew down on the further
paused a moment, perhaps
to
?
We
passed
Here she
Whither was she
had now been following her
hour, and she looked equal to as
much
and the
became evident
we could pillar
again as she
laid
Soon, however,
easy.
down
flew away.
It
it
The
cater-
while the wasp absented herself for
She returned and carried
and then
was
that things were going wrong, although
left it for
came back, and
carried
half
it
it
an hour.
for fifteen
o'clock,
min-
Once more she
for ten minutes,
was now four
following her since two. for
was
not determine what was the matter.
was
six minutes.
utes,
traveling
an
for over
started off once more, rapidly this time, for the grass
short here
we
take breath, and
looked at each other in some dismay. leading us
rail,
side.
and then she
and we had been
We watched over the caterpillar
an hour longer, but saw no more of the wasp.
Did she become discouraged at the magnitude of her task? It would have been a thousand times easier for 45
AND SOLITARY
WASPS, SOCIAL
her to have dug her nest close by the place of capture,
but perhaps she had one larva already stored with her
egg upon
it.
and sixty-one
known
The
was carried two hundred
caterpillar
feet while
we watched
an un-
her, with
distance at each end to complete the line between
the place of capture
and the
nest.
She could scarcely
have lost her way, since at every return she proceeded
on
her journey in one general direction without any hesitation.
It
seems probable then that she had hunted too
far afield,
booty, nest.
and did not
realize,
what an undertaking
it
when
she started with her
would be
to carry
it
to the
We once saw A. vulgaris have a similar experience.
She was running along with a small green
caterpillar,
but became discouraged either at the difficulty of finding her nest, or at the distance she had to cover. She would carry the caterpillar a
a while, and then pick
little
way, drop
it,
circle
about
but finally she gave
up again and flew away. up The affairs of Ammophila must frequently go wrong, since in still another of our few examples we saw much it
;
the whole undertaking
trouble
and labor wasted.
The wasp,
in this case
an
urnaria, captured her caterpillar successfully and pro-
ceeded to carry
it off.
She was far from being
going along for a foot or
so,
in a hurry,
and then making a long
pause, during which she would lay
it
down and
either
AMMOPHILA AND HER CATERPILLARS above
circle
it,
perhaps to take bearings, or spend the
time in cleaning herself
stroking and smoothing
off,
every part of her body with the utmost care and deliber-
Her
ation.
nearly an hour
When,
feet.
and
stops were so frequent
was occupied
at last, the nest
in going
about twenty-five
was reached, the plug was
removed from the entrance and the in,
so lengthy that
dragged
caterpillar
but almost immediately the wasp came out back-
wards with the point of an egg projecting from the
ex-
tremity of her abdomen. She ran around and around the nest in a distracted
way
four or five times and then went
back, dragged the caterpillar out, and carried
it
The egg came out further and further, and dropped on the ground and was lost. The wasp,
away. finally
carry-
ing the caterpillar, led us a long dance, in a great semicircle
over the
field,
Instead of going
in,
coming back
to the nest at last.
however, she was about to
start off
on another tour when we took her prey from her and it
placed
in the nest.
The wasp remained
borhood for over an hour, but nest
was not
lowing day put
it
closed,
in the neigh-
The
finally disappeared.
and when we dug
it
up on the
contained only the caterpillar that
fol-
we had
in.
We could usually enter into the feelings of the Ammophiles
and understand the meaning 47
of their actions
;
but
AND SOLITARY
WASPS, SOCIAL we were puzzled
when we saw an urnaria
once,
stored her second caterpillar
and closed her nest perma-
nently, spend the rest of her morning in hunting.
She had not dug a
in hunting?
had
that
Why
nest, she could not lay
another egg at once, she did not want a caterpillar, for
when we offered her one she stung it and then left it lying on the ground. The sun was bright, the sorrel-blossoms invited her. tional
and
wasp
Surely to
it
would have been the part of a
have passed the
rest of the
fun.
We
have said that urnaria stores two
this rule is not
without
its
exception.
day of the summer that on a ful potato field,
visit to
we came upon
that at once attracted attention.
and
closing her nest,
It
caterpillars,
but
was on the
last
our dear and
flying, a
She was
loud
seemed improbable
hum
just complet-
and we determined
watch
to
and see what kind of a victim she would bring it
fruit-
a wasp of almost double
made, when
the ordinary size, that
ing
day
ra-
in feasting
that this great creature
in,
as
would
content herself with the ordinary fare of the species.
The opening
to the nest
measured half an inch
in dia-
meter. It
was eleven o'clock when she
flew away. At half past
twelve she reappeared, coming from the direction of the
woods, opened her
nest,
and took out a few more
pellets.
AMMOPHILA AND HER CATERPILLARS Then
she flew to a bush which grew against the fence,
and following her quickly we saw an immense green caterpillar placed high up on a branch. three feet away,
must have taken both strength and perseverance
It lift it
this
at
to
heavy weight so far from the ground. She seized
once and carried
it
down, not
flying, as these
wasps
sometimes do when they are descending with a burden,
and then dragged tightly.
it
into her nest,
where
it
fitted rather
This nest was so shallow and so obliquely
was
rected that the caterpillar
been taken
plainly visible after
it
di-
had
in.
After she had laid her egg she crawled out, getting past the caterpillar with nest.
There was
it
certainly
difficulty,
would furnish
sufficient
We
To
nourishment even
were, therefore, not
upon more had been brought.
that nothing
ing.
we
opening the nest two days later, to find
surprised,
wasp
store
size of the caterpillar
for the offspring of this wasp.
the
and closed the
no room for any further
and from the
of provisions,
judged that
some
larvae
spend from
be more exact,
six
days to two weeks in eat-
that
all
We have said that
we watched, with
the
exception of the one which developed from the egg of this big creature, ate
spun
their cocoons
reach the size of
;
its
from
six to eight
days and then
but this one seemed determined to
mother, and ate continuously for 49
AND SOLITARY
WASPS, SOCIAL Of
fourteen days.
course long before this time had ex-
become a
pired the remnant of the caterpillar had
dark- colored mass which looked
little
likely to
away with unabated
appetite, but the great larva ate
and almost the
relish, gradually acquiring the color
thickness of the caterpillar
Ammophila country,
is
common
On
of Milwaukee. clear weather,
had destroyed.
which we have never seen
polita,
very
it
in the
sandy
half a dozen individuals work-
similar to that of A. yarrowii, described
tion stage
food
all
especial interest, as
method being
very
;
it
by Dr.
Willis-
shows a
transi-
between the wasps that provide the store of
at
once and those that feed their young
through the larval period. prey
south
the tenth of September, in bright
we found
and having an
in the
fields to the
ing within a few rods of each other, their
ton,
dry,
tempt the
Urnaria rarely
flies
all
with her
but this wasp, although her caterpillars, are not
much
smaller,
and she
herself
is
no
larger, carries
her booty lightly on the wing, alighting only occasionally to
run a few
urnaria, taking
and
this
steps.
She has
to
do more work than
five or six caterpillars instead of two,
method
of progression has the advantage of
rapidity.
The
first
wasp
medium-sized
that
we saw was
just alighting with
a
green caterpillar near a partly closed 50
AMMOPHILA AND HER CATERPILLARS nest.
When
disturbed she flew away, but soon returned,
dropped her prey half an inch from the to clear the
nest,
opening, ran inside to see that
and then backed
in with the caterpillar.
all
proceeded
was
right,
Emerging
after
a few minutes, she placed a small pebble in the doorway,
which was thus partly
closed,
and flew away.
She
brought three more caterpillars at intervals of thirty minutes, and then, after wedging a pebble into the neck of the opening, she in dirt
began
to
and packing in lumps
We
in her mandibles. this operation, as
it
fill it
in solidly, scratching
of earth
which were brought
did not allow her to complete
would have made excavation more
but caught her and dug out the nest.
difficult,
tunnel ran
down
obliquely for five inches, being two
inches below the surface at the pocket. a
wasp
larva,
which was
four caterpillars.
The
In
it
we found
at least three days old,
and
There were no signs of the banquet-
must have already taken place. We carried larva home with us, and it ate the caterpillars up
ing which this
clean, finishing with a fifth
another nest, and going into sixteenth.
The
caterpillars
slightest stimulation,
until they species.
were eaten.
which we supplied from its
all
cocoon on September wriggled about on the
and remained
in this lively state
They belonged
to four different
AND SOLITARY
WASPS, SOCIAL
In a second nest to which food was being carried, we
found four caterpillars and a larva about three days old, all the conditions
ample.
being like those in the other ex-
Evidently the larva had been fed from day to
day, since four or five days must have elapsed since the
making of the nest. Westwood states that Ammophila, when she has captured her prey, walks backward, dragging
but in
all
the cases that
came under our
it
after her;
1
notice she went
forward, the caterpillar being grasped near the anterior end, in her mandibles,
or allowed to drag a
and
either lifted
little if
above the ground
long and heavy.
It is
usually
held venter up, but in one case, in which the wasp,
while carrying
and picked or
up
The
it
it
up
to her nest, frequently laid
again,
it
it
down
was held with the venter down
indifferently.
all-important lesson that Fabre draws from his
study of the
Ammophiles
is
that they are inspired by
automatically perfect instincts, which can never have varied to any appreciable extent from the beginning of
He
time.
argues that deviation from the regular rule
would mean
extinction.
sting ever so
little
to
For example,
if
the
wasp should
one side of the median
line the
prey would be imperfectly paralyzed and the egg would 1
Introduction to
Modern
Classification of Insects,
52
ii,
189.
AMMOPHILA AND HER CATERPILLARS consequently be destroyed;
or a sting in the
wrong
place might cause the death of the caterpillar and thus the death of the
wasp
he thinks, can be
larva, which,
nourished only by perfectly fresh food.
The genus
we draw from
conclusions that differ
The one
from these
in the
the study of this
most striking manner.
preeminent, unmistakable, and ever present
the shape of the nest
and the manner
of digging
the condition of the nest (whether closed or open) left
temporarily, in the
method
the degree of malaxation, in the victim, in the
-
Variability in every particular,
fact is variability.
way
most important of
victims of the stinging,
manner
in the condition
some
ing "veritable cadavers," to Fabre's, long before the larva
it,
in
in
when
of stinging the prey, in of carrying the
of closing the nest,
all,
-
and
last,
produced
and
in the
them dying and becomuse an expressive term of
of
is
ready to begin on them,
while others live long past the time at which they would
have been attacked and destroyed
if
we had
fered with the natural course of events. variability
we
caterpillars
get
not inter-
And
all this
from a study of nine wasps and
fifteen
!
In his chapter on "Methode des Ammophiles" Fabre says that each species has novitiate.
its
own
"Not one could have 53
tactics,
left
allowing no
descendants
if
it
WASPS, SOCIAL
AND SOLITARY
were not the handy workman of to-day. Any
when
impracticable it."
And
slightly that
verely that
a break
we
yet it
the future of the race depends
find that the prey
made
upon
be stung so
may
can rear and wriggle violently or so
dies almost at once,
it
little slip is
and
in neither case
in the generations of the
since in the former the egg or larva
is
its
composing
caterpillar
is
Ammophiles,
so firmly fastened
hold, while in the latter the dead
as to keep
se-
and
de-
eaten without dissatisfaction or
is
injury.
Nor do
we, in gathering evidence for the evolution of
the instincts of these wasps, need to rely entirely
our
own
observations.
which point
Fabre himself gives many
same
in the
and unvarying
instinct
facts
he draws a
direction, but
between those actions which are the
upon
result of
line
mechanical
and those which come within the
sphere of reason, and in relation to which the insect must consider, compare, light of his
and judge. Yet
own work,
is
readjustment with every the individuals of the
the
meaning which
even in the
so extremely variable, needing
new
same it
this line,
species
and often among
species, that
has for
its
it
loses for others
author.
He
himself
speaks of certain individuals of the genus Sphex which refuse to be distance.
duped when he withdraws
These, he says, are the 54
their prey to a
elite,
the strong-
AMMOPHILA AND HER CATERPILLARS headed ones, which are able the action
to recognize the malice of
and govern themselves accordingly, but these
revolutionists, apt at progress,
in
he goes on to say, are few
numbers. The others, the conservators of old usages
and customs, are the majority, the crowd. Yes, but
is it
not always the strong-minded few that direct the destiny of a race
?
Chapter III THE GREAT GOLDEN DIGGER wasp (Sphex ichneumonea Linn.)
THIS our most
beautiful species,
brilliant color, as
make
it
well
it
known
the later part of July, early days of
among
flies
its
great size
one of
and
During
through August, and even
September
it
is
its
the flowers, serving to
to all observers of nature. all
is
commonly found
at
in the
work
making or storing its burrow. It is rare in our garden, however, and we thought ourselves fortunate in being able to keep track of one individual from the
Although large and powerful
the closing of the nest. is
gracefully formed.
making
In color
it is
to it
brown, varied with
bright yellow.
On the
morning of the third of August,
ten o'clock, nest
we saw one
of these hunters start to dig a
on the side of a stony
gress in the
hill.
After making some pro-
work she flew off and
selected a second place,
where she dug so persistently that we this
was
to
at a little after
felt
be her final resting-place; but 56
confident that
when
the hole
THE GREAT GOLDEN DIGGER was two and one half inches deep,
it
too
was
deserted.
Again our wasp chose a spot and began to burrow. She worked very rapidly, and at twenty minutes before twelve
was three inches deep. At high noon she flew away, and was gone forty minutes. The day was excessively hot, about 98 Fahr., and we ourselves were only the hole
deterred from taking a noonday rest by our fixed deter-
mination not
was
there
On
to
to leave the place until
we had
seen
all
that
be seen in the manoeuvres of ichneumonea.
returning she appeared very
much
excited, fairly
quivering with vitality as she resumed her work.
She
came up backward, carrying the earth with her mouth and anterior legs, and went back from the opening some little
distance,
went in again.
humming, in the
In
was dropped, and she at once While in the burrow we could hear her
when
just as the Pelopaei
do when, head downward
wet mud, they gather their loads for nest-building.
five or six trips
late,
it
a
little
and then she would
kick the particles
mass lie
of earth
quite
flat
would accumu-
on the heap and
in all directions.
As
the
work
progressed the
away earth was
away before
was placed on the ground, and as she
backed
it
carried further
in different directions the material
and further
brought out
was well spread about from the down-hill side of the nest.
Sometimes she would spend several moments 57
in
WASPS, SOCIAL smoothing the debris presented
much
all
AND SOLITARY around, so that the opening
the appearance of an
only the particles were
much
immense
larger.
ant-hill,
During the
first
hour that we watched her she frequently turned directly
toward
us, and,
sometimes remaining on the ground and
sometimes rising on her wings to a appeared
Her
level
with our faces,
be eyeing us intently for four or
to
attitude
was comical, and she seemed
five seconds.
to
be saying,
what are you hanging around here for?' As the afternoon wore on she worked more calmly and her fidgety and excited manner disappeared, the :
'Well,
excavation progressing steadily until half-past three.
At that time she came out and walked slowly about front of her nest circled just
and
above
around
it.
Then
she rose and
gradually widening her
it,
going further afield
all
and now
flying in
flight,
and not
The
object near her nest
was
until her tour of observation
had
detailed survey of every ;
now
and out among
the plants and bushes in the immediate vicinity.
remarkable
in
little
carried her five times entirely around the spot did she
appear
satisfied
that she
and
fly
away.
was studying the
All her actions
locality
ings before taking her departure.
us very
much was
showed
and getting her bear-
A
fact that
impressed
that with the two nests that she
had
begun and then deserted she had taken no such precau58
THE GREAT GOLDEN DIGGER tion,
but simply came up and flew
up her mind, the localities
off.
Had
she
made
we may be allowed to use the term, were in some way unsuitable and
that
if
hence she had no occasion to return to them ?
that
Had
she
THOROUGH LOCALITY STUDY BY SPHEX decided, in the last instance, that she would return and so
must
get her bearings
different acts
were
an evidence of a
?
We
wondered how
instinctive, or were, as
"little
far the
Huber has
dose of judgment."
it,
Bates, in
speaking of Monedula signata, says that he often noticed
it
taking a few turns about the locality of
and that he was convinced that purpose of getting
its
bearings.
59
it
was doing
Belt,
its
nest,
so for the
having described
AND SOLITARY
WASPS, SOCIAL how he
fed a specimen of Polistes carnifex with a cater-
which the wasp cut
pillar,
"Being
at the time
climbing plant,
it
this,
it
hovered in front of
I thought
foliage
down which
:
half.
To
few seconds, then
then larger ones around
had gone, but
it
returned
opening in the dense
at the
when
the
wasp came back
flew straight to
any further note of the believe that
to say
the other half of the caterpillar lay."
then remarks that it
for a
it
it,
it
and had another look
remaining half
on
was leaving the other
it
again,
He
parts, goes
proceeded, before flying away, to take
took small circles in front of the whole plant.
two
amidst a thick mass of fine-leaved
note of the place where
do
into
its
locality.
1
for the
nest without taking
Both of these writers
of the actions of insects that are
many
ascribed to instinct are really evidence of the possession of a certain
To
amount
return to
of intelligence.
When
our Sphex.
urally supposed that she
had gone
and we were on the qui vive actions half
when
an hour
she
she flew
away we
nat-
in search of her prey,
to observe every step in her
came home. Alas when she came back
later,
!
she was empty-handed.
She dug for
and was gone two minutes, then returned and worked for thirty-five minutes. Anfour minutes, then flew off
other two minutes' excursion, and then she settled 1
Naturalist in Nicaragua,
60
p. 136.
down
THE GREAT GOLDEN DIGGER to
work
in
good earnest and brought up load
of earth until the
shadows grew
We
long.
on these
later trips she flew directly
upon her
first
after load
noticed that
away, depending
careful study of the surroundings to find
way back. At fifteen minutes after five the patient worker came to the surface, and made a second study, her
HASTY LOCALITY STUDY BY SPHEX this
time not so detailed, of the environment.
this
way and
low, far
and
that, in
near,
and out among the
and
She flew
plants, high
and
at last, satisfied, rose in circles,
higher and higher, and disappeared from view.
waited for her return with
all
61
We
the patience at our com-
AND SOLITARY
WASPS, SOCIAL mand, from
fifteen
minutes after
We
utes before seven.
sure that
felt
min-
five until fifteen
back she would bring her victim with
when
her,
she
came
and when we
saw her approaching we threw ourselves prone on the ground, eagerly expecting to see the end of the drama ;
but her search had been unsuccessful, nothing.
-
-
she carried
In the realms of wasp-life, disappointments
uncommon, and this time she had us to share her chagrin, for we felt as tired and discouraged as she are not
perhaps did
herself.
When we saw
any provision for her future
what
to
do next
;
was shared by her
and
offspring,
may
be that
also, for she at
entrance to her nest.
and decided
it
her entering without
We now
to capture her, to
one of our wasp-cages, and
we were
at
this state of
once began to thought
it
fill
a
loss
mind in the
time to
act,
keep her over night in
to try to
induce her to
turn to her duty on the following day.
We
re-
therefore
secured her in a large bottle, carried her to the cottage,
and having made every possible arrangement comfort,
On
left
for her
her for the night.
the next morning, at half after eight o'clock,
we
took Lady Sphex down to her home, and placed the mouth of the bottle so that when she came out she had to enter the nest.
ever, only a
This she
did,
remaining below, how-
moment. When she came up 62
to the surface
tf
' l '
r l!W w#w'''iF^^
'l/|J|ii
/ii'*
'^ji'iillli^^^^^^^ll'
?; i;//!i M'V' "viiiirytiW' Iliw ;
i.
;
Vj^-=rso^/Wn^^
SPHEX DRAGGING GRASSHOPPER TO HER NEST
1)
^k\ .PIJJHI'?
THE GREAT GOLDEN DIGGER she stood
still
and looked about
then flew away.
It
few seconds, and
for a
surprised us that having been ab-
sent from the place for so
many
study of the locality as she had done before. it
made no
hours, she
We thought
a very unpromising sign, and had great fears that she
was deserting the place and that we should see her no more. One would need to watch a wasp through the long hours of a broiling hot day to appreciate the joy
we
that
felt
when
at nine o'clock
She had no
back.
we saw her coming
difficulty in finding
her nest, nor did
she feel any hesitation as to what ought to be done next,
but
fell
work
to
at
weather, although threatening that
moment, but
Load
still
hot,
seemed
dirt.
The
had become cloudy and
we expected
this
after load
once at carrying out more
to
a
down-pour
make no
was brought up,
so
of rain every
difference to her.
until, at the
end of an
hour, everything seemed completed to her satisfaction.
She came
and now
to the entrance
and flew about, now
this
way,
that, repeating the locality study in the most
thorough manner, and then went away.
At the expira-
an hour we saw her approaching with a large green meadow-grasshopper, which was held in the
tion of light
mouth and supported by under.
On
the fore legs, which were folded
arriving, the prey
the entrance, while the
was placed, head
wasp went 65
in,
first,
near
probably to reas-
WASPS, SOCIAL sure herself that
all
was
AND SOLITARY
right.
Soon she appeared
at the
door of the nest and remained motionless for some mo-
Then
ments, gazing intently at her treasure.
(we thought by an antenna) she dragged
it
seizing
head
it
first
into the tunnel.
The
She
laying of the egg did not detain her long.
was up
in a
moment and began After a
into the nest.
could plainly hear her material
down with
little
at
once to throw earth
she went in herself, and
humming
her head.
we
as she
pushed the loose
When
she resumed the
work outside we interrupted her to catch a little fly that we had already driven off several times just as it was about to enter the flew away,
burrow.
and
placed on
its
back, with
end of the pocket and the
legs
into the tunnel.
found that the egg of the wasp, which was seven
millimeters long, and rather slender,
under face of the thorax
and
disturbed and
gave us an opportunity to open the
to the blind
protruding up
We
this
The Sphex was
The grasshopper was
head next
its
nest.
was placed on the
at a right angle to its length,
parallel with the femur of the second
had apparently been stung so that
it
leg.
This
leg
had swollen and
folded over the free end of the egg, which was thus firmly
held in place at both extremities. 1 1
Fabre says that
all
Upon examination
of the three species of
66
Sphex
that he has
THE GREAT GOLDEN DIGGER we found
abdomen
that the
of the grasshopper
was
beat-
ing regularly and automatically, but the closest observation failed to discover any other movements, nor
would any part respond when stimulated.
we found
o'clock in the afternoon
pulsating, and, in addition, that
several times
when we
hopper was very
the next
was able
to
lift its
ward the head,
as
in the
and
grass-
labial palpi faeces,
and
abdomen, which was curved over it
lay on
its
On
to-
back, frequently and with
the next afternoon there
was
movements, but the egg was dead.
On
considerable violence.
no change
morning the
had passed
It
still
cover of the jar that
lively, the antennae
moving without stimulation.
abdomen
both antennae moved
lifted off the
"On
contained the insect.
the
At three
the seventh the grasshopper responded to stimulation
by a
slight
abdomen.
movement
The
of the palpi
and the end
of the
abdomen continued
pulsation of the
until the afternoon of the eighth,
when it
ceased, no effort
of ours succeeding in starting
again.
The movements
of the antennae
the ninth,
it
and palpi grew weaker and weaker on
and on the morning
of the tenth the insect
studied lay the egg on this identical place.
He places immense impor-
tance on this point, which seems to us rather fanciful. ticed the pulsation of the
abdomen and
parts.
67
the
movements
He
also no-
of the other
AND SOLITARY
WASPS, SOCIAL was dead, a period of since it was brought
We
five
and a
half days having elapsed
into the nest.
had not supposed
that the digging
up
of her nest
would much disturb our Sphex, since her connection with
it
was
When we
taken.
hour
after
we had done
and near
an end
;
but in this we were mis-
returned to the garden about half an
humming from
anxious far
so nearly at
the deed,
we heard
her loud and
She was searching
a distance.
for her treasure house, returning every
few
minutes to the right spot, although the upturned earth
had
entirely
changed
to believe her eyes,
its
appearance.
and her
the fact that her nest
persistent refusal to accept
had been destroyed was
She lingered about the garden
made
so
many
She seemed unable
through the day, and
all
visits to us, getting
under our umbrellas
and thrusting her tremendous personality faces, that we wondered if she were trying as to the whereabouts of her property. that
pathetic.
into our very to question us
Later we learned
we had wronged her more deeply than we knew.
Had we not interfered cells to the side of
in each.
Who
standing
among
the
she \vould have excavated several
main tunnel,
knows but perhaps our Golden Digger, the ruins of her home, or peering under
our umbrella, said to herself: I don't
storing a grasshopper
know why
"
Men
the world thinks so
68
are poor things;
much
of them."
THE GREAT GOLDEN DIGGER Dr. Packard describes Sphex ichneumonea as nesting in gravelly walks,
where
to six inches, using its
it
digs to a depth of from four
jaws and fore legs
to
do the ex-
cavating. While the wasps that he observed completed the hole in half
an hour, ours was actually
Her
over four hours. as
is
shown
at
work a
little
nest,
in the drawing,
measured seven and one half inches to the beginning of the pocket, which
was three
quarters of an inch wide by
one and one half inches long.
The yellow-winged native of France,
by Fabre hours to
to
Sphex, a
was found
take
several
make her nest, work-
ing in hard ground
while
;
another species, also studied
by
this observer,
dug
earth, either in the
in soft
ground or
NEST OF SPHEX in the
accumulations on
and completed her work in fifteen the most. These variations in the habits of
the roofs of buildings,
minutes at
closely related
species
should be carefully studied in
any attempt toward an explanation of
their instincts.
Fabre's account of the genus Sphex, as
it
appears in
AND SOLITARY
WASPS, SOCIAL most
France,
is
winged
species,
He
interesting.
says that the yellow-
living in colonies, first digs her nest
and then secures her
cricket,
which
is
brought, on the
wing, to the neighborhood of the burrow, the last part of the journey being accomplished is
on
dragged by one of the antennae, and
the nest
is
reached. It
is
is
not
left until
then placed so that the antennae
reach precisely to the opening, and there the
The cricket
foot.
wasp descends hurriedly
it is
left
while
into the depths of the bur-
In a few seconds she reappears, showing her head
row.
outside, seizes the antennas of the cricket,
and drags
These manoeuvres are repeated with a
below.
it
striking
degree of invariability.
The large
other Sphex
and heavy
to
first
secures her prey, which
be carried
far,
too
and then digs her
nest in the neighborhood of the capture.
This being
done, she returns to her victim, and straddling it
is
it
drags
by one or both of the antennae. Sometimes the whole
journey
is
accomplished at once, but oftener the wasp
suddenly drops her burden and runs rapidly to her nest.
Perhaps
it
seems
to
her that the entrance
is
not large enough to accommodate a creature of such size;
perhaps she imagines some imperfections of detail
which would impede the process of storing
work
is
it
up.
The
retouched, the doorway enlarged, the threshold
70
THE GREAT GOLDEN DIGGER Then
smoothed. starts
with
she returns to her booty and again
After a few steps the Sphex seems to be
it.
She has
seized with another idea.
but has not seen the interior. is
well within?
The
visit to
the interior
is
all off.
made, more touches are given,
returns.
plished this time? to
Who
doorway,
knows whether
She drops her prey and again runs
and once more she
more given
visited the
Will the journey be accom-
Impossible to say.
Some wasps,
worry than others or more forgetful of
the small details of architecture, to repair their neglect or to clear
up
their suspicions,
abandon
their booty five
or six times in succession to retouch the nest or simply to visit the interior. nest, is carried in
common
The
prey, once brought to the
without the preliminaries that are
to the other species.
Chapter IV SEVERAL LITTLE WASPS a search for the nest of one of our garden wasps
INwe
found, in the woods beyond the fence, an old,
weather-beaten stump which was riddled with holes
The
both large and small.
the passage-ways of ants,
large ones were evidently
and were
in constant use.
small ones seemed to be uninhabited
;
The
but thinking they
might contain the nests we were in search
of,
and hop-
we watched long enough we might see our wasps flitting in and out, we settled ourselves close by. ing that
We we
if
were resolved
was necessary, and our duty to sit on the
to stay as long as
blessed the fate that
made
it
grass under the shade of a wide-spreading oak rather
than in the distressing glare and heat of the garden this
was on the tenth
of July,
;
for
and the weather was what
the farmers call "seasonable."
Twenty,
thirty, forty
minutes passed.
with persistent gazing, and
we had
minds that the likely-looking anted,
when
lo!
Our
nearly
little
eyes ached
made up our
holes were unten-
a tiny wasp, carrying something which 72
SEVERAL LITTLE WASPS we could
not see distinctly, darted into one of them.
It
was gone so quickly that we could not be sure that it was the species we were looking for, and when it reappeared, after two or three minutes, not.
we saw
that
it
was
This point being determined, we watched the hole
with redoubled interest. It
was wearisome work,
long time,
should
slip in
thirty-five
to see
for the
and we dared not
let
wasp stayed away a
our gaze wander
she
At the end
without our knowledge.
of
minutes she returned, but again we failed
what she
carried.
and we scarcely caught into her nest.
We
She flew with great
rapidity,
sight of her before she vanished
could not but wonder at the ease and
certainty with which she recognized her
among
lest
own doorway
the hundreds of holes on the side of the stump.
This power of localization, while
common among
is
one of the most
surely also one of the
is
wasps,
it
most
remarkable.
Our
little
Rhopalum
be her name, made
pedicellatum, for that proved to
more journeys within the next two hours. At the end of this time we opened the tunnel, six
and, after a great deal of sawing and cutting, succeeded in finding the nest five inches
from the surface.
It
was
nothing but a slight enlargement of the gallery, in the soft
decaying wood.
In
it
we found
73
thirty-three gray
WASPS, SOLITARY
AND SOCIAL
gnats, all of them, except two, being dead.
the dead ones
was the
one of
which had probably been
egg,
few hours.
laid within a
The egg hatched two days on the
On
later,
fifteenth the larva died.
gnats looked very dry, for both moisture
and
of the tube with pith
on July this
time
By although we had
ventilation
twelfth, but
many
of the
tried to arrange
by packing the bottom
and covering the top with muslin.
Further watching gave us one more wasp of species, in the
same stump. This time the
two inches from the surface.
It
this
was only
nest
contained four dead
gnats and two live ones, but no egg, showing that the egg is
not always laid on the
Much
first
toward the end of August,
later in the season,
we found another
species of
ones stored.
Rhopalum which proved
to
be new, and for which Mr. Ashmead has proposed the
name rubrocinctum,
since
it
wears a red girdle around
the front end of the abdomen, being otherwise dressed in
black like pedicillatum. of raspberry bushes.
It
makes
filled
in the stalks
by partitions of
pith.
with black, gray, and green gnats,
which were packed
in so closely that they
over and pressed out of shape.
from twentv-five J
home
We opened a stem which contained
thirteen compartments, separated
These were
its
to thirtv gnats. * O
74
Each
were doubled cell
contained
In some of them were
SEVERAL LITTLE WASPS cocoons, in others larvae, and in one
was an
gnats were very carefully examined, and
from the
cells that
had been
filled last
The
egg.
all
of them,
as well as from
those provisioned earlier, were dead.
Other species of Rhopalum are said spiders
to prey
upon
and aphides.
In studying the species that come in our way we are continually developing distinct likings for
some kinds
above others. The appearance these
of
one
favorites
is
of al-
ways hailed with de-
and when the
light,
season's
we
work
over
is
remember
them
with lively pleasure. It is thus,
dear
OXYBELUS QUADRINOTATUS
little
Oxybelus, that we dwell upon the thought of you and
your pretty ways.
No
other
wasp
rose so early in the
morning, no other was so quick and tidy about her work, so apt and business-like without any fuss or flurry.
suit of
No
other was
her prey, and
gratitude of the
more rapid and vigorous
we
number
in pur-
think with admiration and of
flies
that you
destroyed in the course of the summer. 75
must have
WASPS, SOLITARY O. quadrinotatus
and It
is
is
AND SOCIAL
only one-quarter of an inch long,
dark gray with four whitish spots on the abdomen.
was before nine o'clock
in the
on an early inspection tour these wasps descend
morning
that, while out
in the garden,
upon a sandy
ment's rapid scratching with her
spot,
first
we saw one
and
after a
of
mo-
legs enter the hole
had opened. Under her body she was carrying a which looked like the common domestic species. It
that she fly
was upside down,
its
third pair of legs,
yond the
abdomen
head being
and
all
of
its
of the wasp.
tightly clasped with the
abdomen
projected be-
Ashmead
quotes from
Fabre the remarkable statement that Oxybelus her
flies
home impaled on
carries
her sting, an idea that prob-
ably arose from the fact that nearly the whole body of the
fly is visible.
Our new-found wasp stayed only a moment in her nest, although, as we afterward found, it was long enough
for her to lay her egg
on the
fly.
When
she
came
out she quickly smoothed the sand over the spot with
her head and legs so that there was nothing to nest,
mark
the
and flew away. In three minutes she returned with
another
fly.
She alighted two or three inches away, and
scratched for an instant, but quickly saw her mistake,
and found the
right spot.
Again and again the pretty
little
worker went and
SEVERAL LITTLE WASPS came, while we sat watching close by, admiring her deft
and closing the nest and wonderthe ease with which she found it at each return.
handiwork ing at
in opening
There was nothing tiresome or dilatory about species,
and within twenty minutes we had seen
stored up.
The
entered she
left
this
six flies
was closed and the place smoothed over every time before she went away, but when she
make
to
nest
the door open behind her.
her drop the
fly,
but
when
and alighted on a plant near
disturbed she flew up
by, keeping her hold
The whole performance was
it.
like,
We once tried
brisk
on
and business-
but without the feverish hurry of Ammophila and
Pompilus. After the sixth
fly
was taken
in
we were
her go again, thinking that the nest must pletely provisioned,
fly
herself
and
yet so useful in her industry, that
we were
;
for identification
taken
on the
in,
It
She
return.
wasp, scarcely bigger than a
little
hated to disturb her but as
the nest.
now be com-
and that she would not
was such a charming
afraid to let
we
first
obliged to
caught her,
contained only the
flies
we
have her
and then opened that we had seen
the egg being attached to the one lowest down,
left side,
between the head and the thorax.
long and cylindrical.
no marks
The
of violence.
flies
We 77
It
was
were dead, but showed
learned later that
it
takes
AND SOCIAL
WASPS, SOLITARY Oxybelus two hours
to
make
her nest so that this one
must have been prepared the day before.
The egg, which was laid just before nine o'clock on the morning of August seventh, hatched on the morning of August eighth. eat at once,
and devoured
and abdomen first
of the fly to
twenty-four hours.
reached the sixth
On
fly,
at
a
The
little
after nine
larva began to
thorax
the inside of the
all
which
On
it
was attached, twelfth
August
and we supplied
it
in the
had
it
with three more.
August fourteenth these were gone, and we again
replenished
larder, this time with
its
two
flies.
The
larva
had partly eaten these when something went wrong. appetite failed, and on August sixteenth it died.
On
further acquaintance this
charm,
human
-
-
wasp
lost
Its
none of her
indeed, she gained in interest from the almost
curiosity that she
Where
other people.
showed about the
affairs of
several were living close together
one of them would sometimes stop digging her own nest to perch
on a weed and watch the labor of another, and
we once saw an
especially inquisitive character
burrow
through the closed door and enter the home of her next-
door neighbor.
We
find but
Ashmead the
meagre notes on the genus Oxybelus. no observations have been made on
says that
American
species, but that in
78
.
Europe they are found
SEVERAL LITTLE WASPS to
burrow
in
sand and
terous insects.
He
to provision their nests with dip-
says also that according to Verhoeff
the species in this genus do not paralyze their prey by stinging, as they are
unable to do so on account of the
NEST OF OXYBELUS
rigidity of the
abdomen, but that instead they crush the
thorax with the mandibles just beneath the wings, the centre of the nervous ganglia.
dozen
flies,
and
all
He
found in one nest a
had the thorax crushed and were
wasp we do not know how the but there was no crushing of the tho-
dead. In the case of our flies
were
rax.
The
its
death
killed,
larva devoured, in it
had probably
all,
ten
flies.
At the time
finished the larval stage of
79
of its
AND SOLITARY
WASPS, SOCIAL existence, since nine days
of the egg. tion
is
It
may
had elapsed
be that
this period just before
a critical point in the
lost several of
since the hatching
pupa-
we
history of a wasp, for
life
our nurslings at
and Fabre has
this time,
noted that when, on account of the presence of parasites, the larva of its
at the to
Bembex
rostrata
had lacked something
usual amount of nourishment,
end of
spin
its
its
it
No
waspling
consciences are clear
;
but
conditions quite normal,
The way
it
was
and
difficult to
make
for this reason
in
which our Oxybelus
carries its prey
Bembex and Philanthus
does not project behind except at the
entrance into the nest. tinctly see, since she
is
pe-
also hold their
prey under the body, but use the second pair of it
their
we may
indirectly, the cause of their death.
culiar to itself.
that
enough
in our charge ever
on that score our
died from lack of nourishment
have been,
perished miserably
larval stage, not having strength
cocoon.
of
Quadrinotatus, as
legs, so
moment
we could
of
dis-
passed close to us several times in
quick succession, clasps the head of her victim in the third pair of legs,
and
flying thus, with
its
whole body
sticking out behind her, she certainly presents a very
remarkable appearance.
Aporus half
fasciatus
an inch
is
a dark gray species, and
in length.
is less
We were working one hot 80
than
day in
SEVERAL LITTLE WASPS melon
the
field,
when we saw one
of these
little
wasps
going backward and dragging a female of Maevia vittata
which was much larger than she was
on the ground while she
left it
ment, but soon carried
and
leaves,
left
made
while she
it
up on
herself.
She twice
circled about for a to
mo-
one of the large melon
there
it
a long and
careful study of the local-
skimming close to the ground in and out among ity,
the vines
went under a
leaf that lay
the ground
close to
began
length she
at
;
to
and
After her
dig.
head was well down in the ground we broke ..
.
.
leaf that
method
off the
APORUS FASCIATUS
,
we might of work.
see her
She went on for ten minutes without
noticing the change,
and
then,
flew off to visit her spider. to
her hole
missing.
it
without any circling,
When
she tried to return
was evident that some landmark was
Again and again she zigzagged from the
spider to the nesting-place, going by a regular path
among
the vines from leaf to leaf
to blossom, but
when
and from blossom
she reached the spot she did not 81
WASPS, SOCIAL recognize
At
it.
we
last
over the opening,
when
her work, keeping at
At
this point she
began
to
fill
it
AND SOLITARY back
laid the leaf
in its place
she at once went in and resumed steadily for ten minutes longer.
suddenly reversed her operations and
the hole that she
had made, kicking
in the
i
earth until the entrance was hidden. at the spider, selected a
new
out,
backward, and loose
body
by the
to dig
and remained
considering the situation. to the locality, for she at the spider,
This
place.
fourth.
The
dirt
in turn fifth
soon
perfectly
!
should have gone
now watched bell for the
still
for a time,
Her conclusion was adverse filled in
and started a
the hole, looked once
as
was
beginning was made under a
we could
also a
leaf that
not see her at
had we had the naming
down
new
third nest in a
was soon abandoned,
lay close to the ground, so that
Fasciatus
was kicked under the
At the end of two or three min-
first legs.
utes she paused
all.
and began
Surprisingly large pellets of earth were carried
again.
more
place,
She then glanced
of her she
the ages as exasperans
!
We
her for an hour in the intense heat
;
had the
noonday meal had sounded, hunger and
had descended upon us, and most devoutly did we hope that she was suited at last, but no - - after thirst
twenty minutes' work
and a
this place also
sixth nest started.
was abandoned,
This, however, was the final
82
SEVERAL LITTLE WASPS and
choice,
after forty-five
minutes spent in digging,
it
was completed. As the spider was brought toward the nest it was left again and again while the nervous little
wasp flew to the hole, went in, examined, and came out again. At last she backed in, caught the spider by the abdomen, and dragged it down. It was too big - - the head stuck in the hole; but she pulled from below while
we pushed
When
gently from above,
and
it
slowly disappeared.
came out we opened the nest and took The egg was fastened to the middle of the
she
spider.
side of the
abdomen. This one, as was
affected
by the poison than
left
also the case with
a second and third afterward taken from fasciatus,
much less
the
is
usual
among
was the
moving from the time it was taken, without any stimulation, and improving rapidly victims of solitary wasps,
from day blind,
had
to day.
Our second
spider appeared to be
and died upon the sixteenth day, while the third
entirely recovered
was stung, and was
by the seventeenth day
released.
after
it
Fasciatus, then, probably
depends upon packing her victim in tightly to keep
it
quiet. It
was three days and a
half before the egg that
we
had taken hatched. The larva developed rapidly, retaining its hold at the spot to which the mother had fastened it.
The
spider remained alive for six days,
83
and the larva
WASPS, SOCIAL
AND SOLITARY
continued to grow for two days longer,
when
about two thirds grown.
also, being at the time
it
died
We had
great trouble in protecting our growing larvae from the
inroads of fungi, and this was one of the
many that
per-
ished from that cause.
The notice
next example of fasciatus that
was a remarkable contrast
came under our
to the
one that we
have just described, being as slow and dignified as the
She chose a place and
other was nervous and hurried.
kept to
it,
her steady labor being interrupted only by
occasional visits to the spider; but utes to complete the nest. gallery running
down
When
it
took her
finished
it
fifty
min-
was a small
obliquely for an inch and a half
into the ground.
The
only habit that this species can claim as peculiar
to itself
partly
is
the strange
made
nests that
and
useless one of filling
it is
about to abandon.
up the
We have
never seen the sense of order carried to so high a point in
any other wasp.
On
a hillside near our cottage stands a log cabin,
deserted and untenanted save for small creatures of the wild, which,
wasps,
is
though a favorite spot with wood-boring
an unprofitable place
for study because of the
difficulty of cutting out their nests
property.
One day
without destroying
in early July, however,
when we
WASP HOMES
IN
THE LOG CABIN
SEVERAL LITTLE WASPS were
hunting and longed to
in the full fervor of
every moment,
utilize
the wasps in our garden seemed to have
and enjoyment only was
resolved that enjoyment
destined end and way, idle that in disgust
their
and became so exasperatingly
we turned
to the cabin.
For half an
hour we saw nothing more exciting than a Trypoxylon
immuring her victims and a Pompilus hunting spiders under the eaves, but at the end of that time Passolocus annulatus, a tiny
wasp new
along and entered one
came
of the holes with
the logs were riddled.
mandibles, and
to us,
when
flying quietly
which the ends of
She was carrying an aphis
in her
was duly stored she reappeared and flew away. She had probably just renewed her work after a spell of rest, since from this time on for nearly an hour she
this
came back
regularly every four or five
minutes. She nearly always alighted on a blade of grass before going into the nest, but did not appear to be
malaxing her prey. Presently another stage in the game
was reached. She no longer brought aphides, but little pellets of mud with which she plastered up the opening. After she had finished this task and departed, fully chiseled into the log
and
we
care-
laid bare the nest.
The
tunnel ran in for about three inches, and ended in three
pockets which were well stocked with dead aphides, there being fifty-seven in
all.
The innermost
cell
con-
AND SOLITARY
WASPS, SOCIAL
tained a larva, and in the others were eggs, one of which
hatched on the next day and one on the day following.
This second one was probably
was
laid just before the nest
sealed, giving forty hours for the egg stage;
proved
to
be the healthiest of the three.
The
and
it
others per-
ished in early infancy; but this one passed twelve days in eating, not only its
own
destined for the other
and then spun
We
its
members
the logs of the cabin,
of these
wasps working
in
and noticed that they seemed
to
many
leisure alternating with spells of active
work, as though when one the egg laid they
of the family as well,
cocoon.
afterwards saw
have seasons of
share of provisions, but those
cell
had been
felt at liberty to
up and
amuse themselves
a time before beginning on another.
new
filled
When
an
for
entirely
residence was to be chosen they went house-hunting
among
the old holes in the logs
;
and whether they had a
high standard of sanitary conditions, or whether they objected to making extensive repairs, a great
many
places were examined and rejected before they settled
down. The choice once made, many loads of pith were carried out before the
After the
little
new abode was put
pass a whole day in
rest,
householder was to rights, the
spending
much
satisfied.
wasp would
of the time in
looking out of her doorway and perhaps in observing
SEVERAL LITTLE WASPS when she began
the doings of her neighbors, but
she was very industrious, fere with her labors,
matter
how
her, than
and allowed nothing
to
work
to inter-
paying no more attention to us, no
closely our curiosity led us to interrogate
we had been
if
blown about by the
trees
wind.
to
Some
of the
form
galleries for their nests,
wasps dig deep
into the stems of bushes
we found one
but
wise
genus that went in only far enough to make one or two thus saving the trouble of carrying her cuttings
cells,
thirty or forty centimeters in direct opposition to the
force of gravity.
This was Odynerus, whose nests we
found in July, in blackberry and raspberry stems.
Our
first
nests bear her
species
mark
was perennis, whose
in the
shape of a
One
of her cells contained a
pellet
mud
partition.
wasp
larva
of earth placed above each
and
about sixteen caterpillars, nearly one third of
which were dead, while the
or less lively.
They seemed
rest
were more
to
have been
stung near the anterior part, as the
last three
or four segments were jerked up violently
when touched. The
larva went
on
NEST OF PERENNIS
eating,
went on dying from hour
to hour.
At the end of the eighth day, the baby wasp
finished
and the
caterpillars
89
AND SOLITARY
WASPS, SOCIAL
had been provided for two dead caterpillars from another
its
meal, having eaten
it,
as
well
as
that
all
nest.
Much
interest attaches to the
way
in
which Odynerus
lays her egg, since instead of following the
fashion of fastening tiny filament of
Thus
in
from the
it
to the prey she
web from
the food supply. Startle ling retreats
by way is
everything
of
in the ground,
it is
cell.
hung
down and
until the tiny
jaws reach
web, descending again only
For twenty-four hours
it
and then, growing bold,
it
quiet.
feeds at
and when the larva
ever so slightly and the wasp-
it
its
retains this path to safety,
We
by a
it
ceiling, a mass of very imperfectly paralyzed
comes out the thread lengthens
drops
suspends
the wall or ceiling of her
O. reniformis, nesting
caterpillars being collected below,
when
common
its
had opened hundreds
ease.
of plant stems in quest of
these suspended eggs without being so fortunate as to find one,
and were therefore much pleased when our
kind friend, Dr. Sigmund Graenicher, whose interest in bees keeps
him
in touch with out-of-door happenings,
and who has given us much valuable two
stalks,
one of which had in
it
help, brought us
a nest of O. conformis,
while the other contained two freshly provisioned of O. anormis.
In
all
three the egg
90
cells
had been hung from
SEVERAL LITTLE WASPS the side of the cell about one third of the
from which
in the nest of conformis,
had
caterpillars
fallen,
it
hung
all
way down, and but one of the
loose against the wall.
In the other nests the lower part was packed tightly with sixteen small larvae,
upon which
lay the egg, supported in a horizontal position,
although attached to the side wall ex-
actly as in conformis,
more
and above were
eight
caterpillars, the whole forming a com-
pact mass shut in by the usual paitition of
mud. So
closely
after counting
them
This
narrow quarters they became
when
active is
to get
back again, and although motion-
all
less in their
quite
were they crammed in that
them we were unable
an
relieved
entirely different
NEST OF ANORMIS
from pressure. arrangement from that of
O. reniformis, and since the larva
is
in contact with the
from the moment of hatching the manner
caterpillars
of the egg-laying has no significance in relation to the safety of the young.
Conformis hatched on the morning after we received it,
sloughing
tached to
by which from
it,
off the
skin of the egg, but remaining at-
and thus doubling the length of the thread hung. The caterpillar was slightly separated
it,
it
and
it
seemed
to
have no notion of feeling about
WASPS, SOCIAL
AND SOLITARY
for its food, eating nothing for twenty-four hours, but
We now
growing and developing nevertheless.
up some eat,
its
own
caterpillar
take from anormis were gone
take
and
it
and as many
as
caterpillars in contact with
but after
soft,
tender
garden; and
The two
it
little
it
it,
piled
began
to
we dared
stubbornly refused to
spiders, or caterpillars out of our
perished, a victim to prejudice.
eggs of anormis were probably laid within a
few hours of each other, since they had both hatched
on the morning of the third day, and had broken from their attachment, beginning to eat at once.
cooned on the
We
fifth
day
had long wished
early in
They
co-
after hatching. to find a nest of
September fortune favored us.
O. capra, and
A
neighbor of
ours keeps a large tin horn hanging under the porch.
One day when
she wished to use
ing would bring forth a sound
;
it,
no amount of blow-
and when she unscrewed
the mouthpiece to investigate the matter, out tumbled several small green caterpillars
mud. When we heard it
and a quantity
of this incident
should be repeated the nest and
its
we begged
of dry
that
if
contents might be
saved for us; and on the second of September
we
re-
ceived the mouthpiece of the horn with a message to
wasp had been working at it for some Examination showed that there were three cells,
the effect that a days.
92
SEVERAL LITTLE WASPS each containing a larva and a supply of caterpillars, of
which there were ten in the only one
left
uneaten in the
them being
of
cell
most
oldest.
formed, and
lately
The
caterpillars, all
together with the wasp
alive,
larvae,
were
transferred to a place in which they could be conveniently watched.
None
were attacked. The
of the caterpillars died until they
larvae ate all the
food that was pro-
on the fourth, and the
vided, the oldest one cocooning
Of
second one on the seventh of September.
we have no all
the third,
record, excepting that the caterpillars
had
been eaten on September eighth.
We
happened
grounds
be passing through our neighbor's
to
on the morning of September
at nine o'clock
fifth,
and
more
visits
calling to ask
whether there had been any
from the wasp, we learned that capra had
mud
been seen making a
day before.
partition in the horn
on the
While we were speaking she arrived and
entered the mouthpiece, where she remained for about ten minutes.
When
laid her egg,
which we carried away with
she departed
we found
that she us,
had
wishing
This proved
to
determine the length of the egg stage.
to
be longer than that of any wasp that we had hereto-
fore
known,
for not until the
ninth did the larva
make
bursting and leaving
its
its
morning
of
September
appearance, the egg skin
tenant free to crawl away.
93
In
AND SOLITARY
WASPS, SOCIAL
other genera the egg changes into a larva imperceptibly, there being no sloughing off of the skin.
Capra, then,
first
finds a suitable crevice,
and builds a
partition across the inner end, the earth being scratched
up from some
and moistened
dry, bare spot,
in her
mouth. Before gathering the ten or twelve small pillars that are to provision the
and although we could not be this case as in the others
Unless the
cell
is
it
cell,
sure,
cater-
she lays her egg;
we thought
that in
was suspended. packed
tightly
at the beginning,
capra certainly needs the filament, for her caterpillars
were so far from being reduced mobility that
we had
to press
to a state of decent im-
wads
of cotton into the
tubes in which they were kept to prevent them from wriggling out of the
of the larva.
None
of our
not even the one-day-old ones, were injured by
larvae,
their activity
them
way
it
;
but had the egg been
left to its fate
among
might have perished.
Later in September we found O. vagus bringing lets
from a sharp-edged hole
was
to carry
in the ground.
pel-
Her method
each load on the wing to a distance of ten
or twelve inches, where
it
was dropped without the
lively
fling
with which
The
red end of a match stuck into the ground two
inches
Ammophila
away proved very
discards her
lump
of dirt.
disquieting to the dainty
94
little
SEVERAL LITTLE WASPS wasp. These colored matches were a great convenience in
marking
we did not
guess, for a time,
upon
and seeming
plants,
constantly,
what the trouble was. For
went and came,
half an hour she
ing
and as we were using them
nests,
circling about, alight-
entirely
absorbed in
examining them with the minutest care, even alighting
upon our hands with most engaging friendliness, but pretending all the time that the nest was naught to her.
When
and resumed her work. The storing was not
in at once
begun
was removed she hurried
the offending object
until the next
morning, when she took in
caterpillars of very different sizes, at
ten to twenty minutes,
hoped
to find the little
formis, but
way
as to
had not
show the
this genus,
and then
filled
the hole.
chamber arranged
skill
enough
internal plan.
with only one
six
intervals of from
as in reni-
to excavate in It is
We
such a
remarkable that
set of tools for all its species,
has worked out such different styles of architecture, the
ground nests bearing no resemblance of
woody
of
empty
stalks
;
and
snail shells
its flexibility is
by a foreign
by capra's habit of partitioning
off
to those cut out
shown
in the use
species, as well as
convenient crevices
found ready made.
The those
prettiest nests that
of
we have seen
Plenoculus peckhamii, 95
in stems are
which separates
its
AND SOLITARY
WASPS, SOCIAL
not by solid partitions, but by numerous granules
cells,
of earth,
which are used by the
One
case of the cocoon.
had
bottom
at the
larvae for
forming the
raspberry stalk that
mud
six of these
these three larvae eating, each in
we opened
cocoons, and above
its
own compartment,
immature bugs Sometimes the stalk which is
the provision in this case consisting of of the genus
being
filled
Pamera.
by Plenoculus
of another wasp, as filled
by Osmia
is
attracts the fancy of a bee or
shown by the upper
cells
builds above the bee
When
cells.
a number of wasp
eggs are placed in a plant stem, the last one laid first to
hatch.
The
different habits of the
in this respect are very interesting.
first,
The lower
In the case of Cera-
ones wait patiently in their
When
flies,
way
first laid
cells until
and then they
the one
all
come out
two species occupy the same
stalk, the
lack of adjustment probably of those lower
the
those above following in regular order.
in the top cell has matured, at once.
is
Hymenoptera
tina dupla, the small carpenter bee, the egg
hatches
being
or Crabro, or sometimes Plenoculus
results in the destruction
down, excepting
in the case of the
cuckoo
which have acquired the habit of gnawing out at the side of the stem.
their
V
Chapter CRABRO
THE
highest point of the island
perfume, carried
was
by the wind far
calling everything that
est of all the gifts that
drawn to the thrilling
bees,
spot,
and we seemed
July can
to gather the rich-
offer.
We,
too,
were
and found the great blossoming domes life.
butterflies
to
For miles around, the
had gathered
to the feast;
touch the high-tide of the year in the
scent of the flowers, creatures,
;
had wings
and vibrating with
wasps, and
crowned by a
is
and one day their over field and wood,
great group of linden trees
and the
the
humming
vision of
it
all
throng of happy
against the
summer
sky.
Below, in a great root that had pushed above ground, five little
wasps, by
name
sexmaculatus, of the worthy
but unimaginative genus Crabro, resisting the intoxication of the linden flowers,
the most
humdrum and
were sawing and cutting in practical
them, presumably the earliest the root,
and came backing up 97
riser,
manner.
was
well
once in a while,
One
of
down
in
pushing
AND SOLITARY
WASPS, SOCIAL a
lot of
wood dust out
by means of
away
This was spread out
of the hole.
and mandibles, and was then blown
legs
who
cir-
until the last grain
had
by the fanning wings of the
cled about just above the
ground
little
worker,
disappeared.
Here was another way of protecting the
The
fresh dust might attract the attention of
home.
some cuckoo-like and therefore
it
insect
who would
was dispersed,
ried out her pellet
and flung
it
lay her egg within
just as
Ammophila
to a distance,
;
car-
and Sphex
spread evenly over the ground the mass of earth that she carried from her hole. After this series of actions had been repeated several
times the wasp flew that she
had
from a main see
away
to hunt.
We
afterward found
finished the third in a set of cells leading gallery.
On
her return
what she was carrying.
alighted close by,
She showed no
and while she was trying
to the third pair of legs the fly that she
the second pair,
it
we delayed her fear,
she was permitted to store
;
but
to transfer
was clasping with
escaped and flew gayly away.
are plenty, however, and she soon
to
Flies
had another which
and from that time she
worked busily until we left her at noon. It took her from two to ten minutes to catch her fly, and at each return two or three minutes were spent in the nest.
opening her tunnel some days 98
later,
On
we found within
SEXMACULATUS
IN
THE LINDEN ROOTS
CRABRO not only
seemed
flies,
but long-bodied gnats, and
have been brought home uninjured.
to
them
of
all
When
was opened some flew away, others were walking about, and all were lively. The wasp egg was laid on the under side of the neck and although the freshest cell
;
we could thought
hatched
it
ten to sixteen
A month
half centimeters,
bugs and a
end of
thirty-six hours.
were provided for each
flies
later
at the
we found Crabro
ground. Her tunnel ran
Two
down
obliquely for six and one
were in the
latus taking both flies
nest,
and gnats was
To
But the
to believe that
marks
surprising, so rigid
both
have led
needed
and bugs;
flies
1
to this supposition,
to
still,
she might
of conservatism about her,
It is true that
to believe.
to use
sexmacu-
one wasp, a Crabro,
take such diverse things as bugs and
much
find
it
long as she drew the line at Diptera she was
feel that so
all
at the end.
when we opened
are the family traditions of the wasps;
all right.
larva.
and had an enlargement fly
From
lentus nesting in the
before the provision was completed.
with
we
not be certain of the exact time of laying
prove that there
is
flies, is
too,
would
almost too
Crabro wesmaeli
is
but some accident
said
may
and stronger evidence variability in so
is
deep
seated an instinct. i
i
Sharp, Insects, page 130.
101
\
AND SOLITARY
WASPS, SOCIAL The Crabro wasps they want to
live,
of
in
have pleasant ideas as
We
found ten or twelve of
lately
an old log on the shore
in
Milwaukee, nesting
Lake Michigan, and when they opened
in the
great
where
to
but interruptus excels in the choice
of a dwelling place.
them
all
their doors
morning they had before them the splendor bay but calm ;
of the
in the midst of the glory they never
paused on the threshold, as Cerceris would have done, to take
a look at the world before going to work.
morning the
earliest riser in
our
ning the day at half past nine.
little
One
colony was begin-
Of good
size for a
Crabro,
with a square determined-looking head and very direct
and business-like manners, she proceeded a
new chamber
for provisioning.
to cut out
These chambers are
nothing more than enlargements of the long gallery,
such as are
made
in stems
by related
o'clock she departed on a hunting excursion
bushes on the bank above minutes, carrying,
much
to
us,
At ten
species.
among
and came back
the
in eight
our surprise, a white- winged
moth, which was clasped under the body by the second
and
third pairs of legs,
and was passed back
pair as she alighted before entering. vation, a delicacy
Crabro
larder,
A moment
new
is
an inno-
to the accepted idea of
accustomed
later she
A moth
to the third
was
what a
to Diptera, should contain.
off again,
102
but this time did not
CRABRO AND HER WHITE MOTHS
CRABRO succeed so quickly, coming back twice empty-handed for brief visits,
an hour.
and bringing
took
It
six
moths
in a load at the
number neared completion her seemed to wax greater, the hunting the
to five,
that
and even
some
of the
to
into the closely fitting
o'clock the cell sight, closing the
was
alive
was
found afterwards
after another,
before eleven
little
and the wasp
door behind her.
and energy
and some dead, and
chamber. At a filled,
and as
intervals shortening
We
two minutes.
moths were
interest
packed them lengthwise, one
that she
end of half
to provision the cell,
We
from
retired
thought that she
but presently the protrusion of wood dust
resting,
showed that she was enlarging her house, and an hour
came out and began
later she
to
time half a dozen were working. first
hunt again.
By
this
Before leaving for the
time in the morning each one
made a thorough
study of the place, and on returning they entered their
own
doors,
tion, the
them.
which were standing open, without
hesita-
long white wings of the moths trailing behind
Four
species were represented in the nests that
we opened.
Many
species of
of plants, in
Crabro make
and among these
is
their nests in the stems
stirpicola,
which
is
seen
numbers, through the middle of July, flying about in
a leisurely way, though
it is
only toward the end of the
105
AND SOLITARY
WASPS, SOCIAL month, or
in the early
days of August, that they
down
to the
noon
of
work
in the heat of the day,
work
of
making
their
On
homes.
settle
the after-
July twenty-seventh, after some very lively
we walked down
to the
berry garden at half past five o'clock,
rather to rest our-
selves than with the thought
of undertaking anything new;
but a wasp - hunter cannot afford
choose
to
we
hours, and
own
his
thankfully
CRABRO STIRP1COLA
accepted the sending of for-
when we came upon a
tune
digging out her nest.
stirpicola
busy
She had only begun
and had reached a length
at
work
in
to excavate,
just equal to that of her
own
body. Her manners were an agreeable contrast to those of the wasps that we had been watching through the
The
day.
feverish excitement of
their
ways seemed
quite in keeping with the burning heat of noon, while
Crabro's slow and gentle movements harmonized perfectly
with the long shadows of evening.
ciate the difference
and Crabro one
is
the
it
is
To
fully appre-
between Pompilus or Ammophila
necessary to see them at work.
embodiment
of all
that
is
restless,
The vying
with the humming-birds in swiftness and energy, while 1
06
CRABRO the other
calm, quiet, and stately in
is
all
that she
does.
Some
ten feet
one, to judge
away was a second
from the depth
to
had penetrated, must have been
We
about two hours.
They
bit
and
this
which she at
work
for
watched them both,
and saw them bring up load pith.
stirpicola,
after load of
out the pellets with their
mandibles, and passed them back between the legs
and under the body
had accumulated above the men.
until a quantity tip of the
abdo-
They then walked backward up
the
stem, and thus pushed out the mass as they came to the top. Often they used the hind legs to assist in getting
sometimes kicking in every
it
out of the way,
it
to a little distance.
two or three
trips they
Once
would come
out far enough to expose part of the thorax.
They appeared and disappeared with
the
regularity of a machine, never stopping to rest.
We remained with them until seven o'clock,
BOTTLE ON
STEM TO MEASURE
WORK OF CRABRO
when we placed in such a
work
way
a long bottle over each stem that while
of the wasp,
it
it
did not interfere with the
caught the chips of pith as they 107
AND SOLITARY
WASPS, SOCIAL fell
At the end of an hour we noted the amount
out.
of accumulation in the tube, of their rate of work.
and thus had a measure
The drawing
gives
arrangement of the tube on the stem.
an idea of the
When we
left
them they were still digging and delving. At half past nine we took a lantern and went down to visit
We
our charges.
expected to find them at
rest,
and asleep; but on the contrary they were working
and upon examining the measuring
busily
as
glasses
we found
left
ever,
We
them.
bottles,
as
that they
had not paused
since
measured the depth of the debris
we
in the
and then emptied them.
At four o'clock on the next morning we went
to the
garden, and were much surprised to find that the two wasps had worked without intermission throughout
Indeed they seemed
the night. little
the time that
the gallery
and up
was more pith pected
if
it
took to
to the
to
make
have shortened a a round trip
down
opening again, since there
in the bottles
than we could have ex-
they had worked at only their former rate.
Neither the coolness of the air nor the darkness of the night
had made the
slightest difference to
them. After
watching them a few minutes, and marveling
at their
powers of endurance, we cleared out the tubes and returned to bed.
At half past eight we found them 1
08
still
CRABRO Unlike
at work.
us, they
had taken no morning nap,
but had gone on with their tunneling in their usual steady way.
From
this
time their ways diverged, and they must be
described separately.
had
first
first,
and flew
seen
At nine o'clock the one that we
came up
off,
walking head
to the opening,
remaining away seven minutes.
When
she returned she at once resumed her work, and kept at
it
without a pause until two in the afternoon. At this
hour she went away, and we never saw her again. suppose that she was
killed, for
it
We
seems improbable
that so faithful a creature could have deserted her halffinished
home. Pompilus quinquenotatus often deserted
a partly finished nest for some more enticing spot, and
Sphex started several excavations before making a final choice; but we cannot believe that there was anything fickle
about Crabro.
The second wasp came up head
first to
the entrance
of her hole at two minutes after nine, as though she
had been
influenced, in
some
subtle way,
by her neigh-
bor's example; but after looking about for a
she went back. times,
and
She repeated
finally,
came out and
this observation several
at twenty-five
minutes after nine,
flew to a leaf near by.
cled around, alighting a
number 109
moment
Then
of times,
and
she
cir-
at last
AND SOLITARY
WASPS, SOCIAL departed.
Her
stay
was
for at just thirty-five
brief,
minutes after nine she returned, and at once settled
down
to her
work.
We now began to make that
it
took her to go
notes as to the length of time
down and
bring back her load.
We
timed her again and again, and found that she was
remarkably regular, each of her
trips
occupying from
forty-five to fifty seconds.
All that day
we kept her under
strict surveillance,
and
never once did she suspend her operations either for rest or refreshment.
Late
in the afternoon, while
we
sat
watching her as she appeared and disappeared with almost the regularity of clockwork,
we found
to realize that the patient little creature
work
for
it
difficult
had been
at
more than twenty-four hours, with only one
brief intermission.
Without hurry or
flurry she kept at
her task, reminding us, in her business-like ways, of the social at
wasps of the genus Vespa.
dusk,
and
we
When we
left
her,
attached the recording tube to the stem,
at ten o'clock in the
had not stopped working.
evening
We
we found
emptied the
that she
glass,
and
left her.
At seven o'clock
we
in the
morning of July twenty-ninth could and visit, scarcely believe the testiour senses when we saw that the record was one
paid her a
mony
of
no
CRABRO of unceasing
We
night.
through the long hours of the second
toil
to
began
wonder
if
she would ever finish her
Wonderful though she was, we had grown a
task.
weary
glad that she worked through the creditable to her
and
it
first
it
night;
it
was
through the second, but
we might have
looked as though
little
had been
and we admired
interesting to us,
her even more for sticking to
when
We
of our long session of watching.
to
remain by
her side through another long day, watching an endless series of loads as they
were carried
we thought she was
rather overdoing
we
out,
confess that
it.
Gradually,
however, she slowed up her work, taking two or three
minutes to
make
a journey
down and
up. At
last, at just
nine o'clock, her head appeared at the top of the stalk,
and
after a slight hesitation she flew
away.
The
nest
was
completed.
We have studied wasps for a number of years, feel that
many one
to
we
are on terms of
more or
less
and we
intimacy with
of the species, but never before
have we known
We
have often gone
work
after
day was done.
out with a lantern at bedtime for a tour of inspection
among our quiet
nests,
and have always found the inhabitants
and presumably
asleep.
The
social
wasps are very
industrious, but during the hot nights of July they are to
be seen clustered together on the outside of their paper
in
AND SOLITARY
WASPS, SOCIAL nests in deep repose
nest in the
and although the Vespa wasps that
;
ground sometimes come home
light,
we have never
dark.
Polistes fusca
so thickly does she
late in the twi-
seen them work after
may
that she
was
hang her combs under the
our porches, and from observations taken
we know
it
shelter of
at all
quiet through the night.
is
really
be said to share our cottage,
Sir
hours
John
great industry of wasps.
and Wasps," speaks of the He has known them to work
from early morning
dusk without any interval
Lubbock,
rest
in "Ants, Bees,
until
or refreshment;
from three
toiling
in
but here was our
Crabro
the afternoon of July twenty-
and the day and night
seventh, through that night
lowing until
little
for
fol-
nine o'clock on the morning of the twenty-
a period of forty-two consecutive hours with
ninth,
one intermission of ten minutes on the morning of the Surely she takes the palm for industry,
twenty-eighth.
not only from other wasps, but from the ant and the bee as well.
The
nest
remained o'clock,
thing,
to
was completed, but the work be done.
The wasp
and ten minutes
we knew
away
it
at nine
came back with some-
not what, for she dropped into her hole
so quickly that she
knew she was
later
flew
of storing
there.
was out
Two
of sight almost before
we
minutes later she came up,
112
CRABRO and was
This time she was gone twelve min-
off again.
and when she returned we were again baffled in our effort to see what she was carrying. When she came utes,
out she alighted upon a leaf and attended to her cleaning both body and wings by rubbing them
her hind
and from
legs,
this
toilet,
off
with
time on she never started on
a hunting expedition without paying her personal ap-
attention to
this
pearance.
On her
third trip she
was
gone twenty minutes, coming back with a small
fly;
and before we
left
her at ten o'clock, she had stored six
more.
When we came
back
at half
past two in the afternoon she
was
working, and she kept up her goings
and comings
until four o'clock,
when she suspended the day.
On
operations for
the next morning
we
were called away, and know nothing of
what she
did, but
ing day, Thursday, observations. in
on the
follow-
we resumed our
She worked hard
all
NEST OF
C.
STIRPICOLA
the morning, but
the afternoon her trips were few, and were
at long intervals.
to nine,
when
On
made
Friday she worked from eight
she departed, and never returned.
We
AND SOLITARY
WASPS, SOCIAL watched
for her, at intervals, all
the next,
when we were
We
fallen a victim to
some bird
did not disturb the nest until four days
and examined
cut the stalk,
it.
found that the tunnel was thirty-nine centimeters
in length. all
and,
We
when we
later,
forced to conclude that our
worker had
faithful little
or beast.
through that day and
This was a long distance for her
to excavate,
had been
things considered, her progress
rapid.
We have opened a number of stems that had been stored by
this species,
and
all
the excavations were from thirty
to forty centimeters in length, the
width of the gallery
being about three and one half millimeters, while on each side there
was from one
to
one and one half millimeters
had not been cut away. Of course these
of pith that
points varied with the diameter of the stem and also
with the size of the worker.
Our egg,
little
and had
stirpicola
cell,
had
built a partition of pith across the
a floor to the second
Had she lived,
cell,
laid
an
stem as
before her untimely taking
off.
ten or twelve cells would have been stored,
one above the other. larva
had stored one
and parts
The completed
of eighteen
species being represented.
flies
contained a
of different sizes, four
The
flies
tacked by the larva, the abdomens of races of others having been eaten.
114
cell
had
all
been
some and the
The
at-
tho-
larva continued
AMMOPHILA SLEEPING
IN
THE GRASS (AFTER BANKS)
CRABRO two days, and then spun
to eat for
found
and
in this
The seem
The
cocoon.
we kept wintered
flies
were
in other nests of stirpicola
dead. All the pupae that
and came out
its
in the
all
cocoon
in the spring.
females of Crabro, like those of other genera,
to use their galleries as sleeping places,
males stop
at
any convenient
We
inn.
but the
once entertained
one of them for several nights in a hole in one of the posts of our cottage porch. thus, to
spend time and care in digging a hole
which they return night
female keeps one self
Other males, as
away
stead of
in
it
cell
after night.
this
in the
ground,
In Agenia the
ahead of her needs, and tucks her-
very comfortably
making
in Philan-
;
but the Pelopaei,
in-
use of their tubes, congregate in
the evening where there are convenient crevices, and
make lish
as
much
fuss about getting settled as a lot of
sparrows. Mr. Banks has
made a
Eng-
delightfully pretty
as well as interesting observation on the sleeping habits of
Ammophila.
In a corner of his garden where the
grass grew long, dozens of these wasps arrived every
evening, fell
and
sound
of the
after a
good many changes
in position,
asleep, clinging to the stems about
way down. They
seven and
eight o'clock,
morning.
We
one third
registered at this hotel
and departed before
between
five in the
have seen a Pompilus take the greatest 117
WASPS, SOCIAL
AND SOLITARY
care in selecting a sheltered spot under
some
where she afterward hung herself up, and
slept
until after eight the next day;
x
leaves,
soundly
and Mr. Brues has found
companies of Priononyx atrata passing the night on the stems of sweet clover.
Chapter VI AN ISLAND SETTLEMENT
OUR
children often
made
themselves useful by
re-
porting finds in the shape of nests, and one day
they returned from the island with a wonderful tale of
numbers
great
of big
wasps that were digging
in the
ground. "I don't know what they are," said the small boy, "but they act to
With
nets."
me like
the maddest kind of hor-
time in going over to the spot, where colony of "
upon
us,
we
this attractive picture before us,
Bembex
spinolas.
desire of blood,
On
and
we found
lost
a thriving
our approach they
rage,
and
fell
lust of fight" in
their mien, and chased us to a distance, but without flicting
no
in-
a single wound. This temperance was not due to
gentleness of disposition, but to the fact that
Bembex
is
handy with her sting, her body being too large and clumsy to curve and give the lightning stab as other not at
all
wasps do. With renewed courage we again approached them, more cautiously this time, and soon learned that if
we
preserved an extremely composed and dignified
demeanor our presence on the 119
field
would be
tolerated.
AND SOLITARY
WASPS, SOCIAL like Philanthus,
Bembex, lives in
number
a sort of semi-social state, a
uals occupying the
one has
and some species of Sphex,
its
same space
of ground, although each
Bembex, however,
separate nest.
from these genera and from almost
wasps
in her habit of feeding her
all
This difference
compared with those
differs
of the solitary
young from day
or rather from hour to hour, as long as larval state.
of individ-
in her
it
to day,
remains in the
maternal cares as
of other species results in a less
numerous progeny. The larva, for a period of two weeks, demands constant attention from the mother, so that a second egg cannot be laid until the first-born has gone into its cocoon, unless, indeed, she feeds
once, which does not
work
is
seem probable.
ten or twelve weeks, so that
two
The
larvae at
season of
Wesenberg
ably correct in allowing only five or six
is
prob-
young ones to
each mother for the summer.
In watching our wasps we found that the new nests
were usually made in the outskirts of the colony, which
was thus continually extending other species, just
where
Bembex has
its limits.
Like many
great difficulty in deciding
Our Sphex made three beginnings settling down. The only Ammophila that
to dig.
before finally
we watched from
the beginning changed her place after
working for ten minutes. P. quinquenotatus often 1
20
tried
AN ISLAND SETTLEMENT half a dozen places before she is
was
satisfied,
and
spinolae
quite as difficult to please.
When,
at last, the right place
excavation
is
carried
found, the labor of
is
on vigorously. The mandibles are
used for loosening the earth, and for greater part of the
work
is
done with the
the tarsi of which are doubled
out with the brush of
stiff
up while
spiny hairs
lifting, first
but the
pair of legs,
the dirt
is
swept
on the second
joint.
This attitude gives them a very comical aspect, making
them look
as
if
They sometimes
they were sweeping with their elbows. lie
far over to
one side while loosening
the earth with their mandibles. While digging, the body is
held high by the straightening of the third pair of
and the
dirt
comes out behind
a distance of three or four inches. is lost
to sight, but every
legs,
in a rapid stream, flying to
Before long the wasp
few moments she comes back-
ing out, pushing behind her the dirt that she has dis-
placed below. In about fifteen minutes the nest
and the wasp turns her attention dirt that
is
ready,
to scattering all the
has been thrown out, sweeping the ground
clean so that no sign of her often speculated as to the
work remains.
meaning
We
of the careful
conscientious performance of this part of her task. the wasps that nest by themselves
what enemy
it
have
is
and
With
not easy to see
they are providing against in hiding the 121
WASPS, SOCIAL entrance to the nest
but the precaution seems
;
necessary- -even absurd there
is
no
AND SOLITARY in the
Bembex
still less
field,
where
possibility of concealing the colony,
and
where the nests are only an inch or two apart, so that
an enemy might burrow anywhere with the certainty of finding one.
discover
was the
when
enter
Moreover, the only enemy that we could parasitic
the hole
fly,
closed.
is
which never attempts
to
However, unmoved by
our opinion on the subject, spinolae spends
five or six
minutes of her precious time in making the neighbor-
hood of her home quite
mouth
of the nest with a
Oxybelus, though she
is
little
and then she
fills
in the
loose earth before going
to catch her fly.
away
size,
tidy,
can catch a
strong enough
fly in
is
limited in choice
by her small
three or four minutes.
to take
anything that she sees,
Bembex and she
has no preference for one species above another, yet she
seldom finds one under twenty or twenty-five minutes.
When it is
she comes back nothing of the
unusually large, so closely
by the second pair of
away
legs.
is it
She
fly is visible
unless
held under her body
alights,
and scratches
the loose earth at the entrance of the nest with her
and then, as she creeps within, she passes the along from the second to the third pair, so that the
first legs,
fly
end of
its
body, projecting beyond the 122
abdomen
of the
AN ISLAND SETTLEMENT is
wasp,
an instant before
visible for
Sometimes she drops the ing around, pulls
the
behind her, and then, turn-
fly is left
This
clears the way.
on the ground while
lying
offers a favorable
tunity to parasites, especially as the fly
regard to
its
safety,
but
is
is
it
way is clear the careless proprietor must in
it
off before
entirely blocked
disturbed,
it
she held the
way
fly,
to her nest.
but
wasp
when she
dirt,
it
the
out and
close by, the tunnel
minutes before
During part of realized that it
it
this
time
was going
down near
by.
As
enters she sometimes leaves the hole open be-
hind her, but oftener below.
search
for ten
be a long piece of work she laid
the
when
so that
by the loose earth which we had
and the wasp worked
she cleared a
to
she can store
dirt
away. In one instance,
which we had been opening a nest
was
oppor-
not placed with
dropped anywhere. The
kicked out sometimes covers
is
clean
In other
in with her mandibles.
it
with earth, the
wasp
that
carried inside.
where a longer portion of the tunnel has been
cases, filled
fly
it is
When
fills it
by pushing up earth from
she comes out again she throws in a
and then begins
to circle
seems not quite easy about the
about the place.
nest,
little
She
however, returning
three or four times to scratch earth over the entrance,
before finally taking her departure.
We
opened a good many nests 123
in the course of the
AND SOLITARY
WASPS, SOCIAL summer, and found them
more
so than
all
much
very
is
much
alike,
The
the case with other species.
en-
trance tunnel runs in obliquely for from three to five inches below the surface of the ground, and ends in a pocket.
We grow accustomed iarity
with other wasps
to marvels,
we
hidden.
And
yet
at
how
Bembex swoops down
which the entrance
strange a power
the least sign to help her grass
is
to
be seen on the
a nest which
we wished
pebbles at exactly side, so that the
famil-
take as a matter of course the
unerring accuracy with which
upon the exact spot
and from our
- -
it is
to her nest
There
!
is
is
not
not a stone, not a blade of
field.
Our method
to find again
was
equal distances from
of
marking
to place tiny
one on either
it,
middle point of the straight
line
between
them gave us the desired spot; and the wasp doubtless uses the same method, only her landmarks are sometimes so infinitesimal that
we do
not recognize them.
Bouvier finds that when he cuts away the plants
around the nest of B.
labiatus,
clearing a space of
twenty- eight or thirty inches square, the wasp
is
confused, flying about for a long time before she to find her
entrance.
home.
He
The wasp
once placed a
alighted
ing vainly for a while
made
upon
her
124
flat
way
in.
is
able
stone over the
and
it,
much
after scratch-
The
stone was
AN ISLAND SETTLEMENT in this position for
left
Bembex its
two days, during which time
learned to regard
it
as a landmark, for
upon
being removed to a distance of eight inches she
still
.
' '"
'^
^
"-T%. ^*z=*~ -
a^.-
-
-
to .
'*
.
NEST OF BEMBEX
followed
it
upon returning with her
upon finding her
An
observation of
clusion.
On
nest near
He
fly,
and
insisted
it.
Marchand
points to the
same con-
says:-
July seventeenth, 1900, during a short sojourn at
Pouliguen, on returning from a hunt after Diptera and Hymenoptera in the cliffs of Caudan, about eleven in the
morning,
in tropical heat, I
the old mill of
paused to take breath near for a little shade
Caudan and looked about 125
AND SOLITARY
WASPS, SOCIAL before continuing
walk to Pen-Chateau.
my
had seated
I
myself on the stones of a slope shaded from the sun and was wiping the perspiration from my forehead, when I
saw a large wasp followed
it
with
arrive directly before me.
my
on the side of
mill
I
instinctively
eyes paused some yards from the the cliff, and began to open a nest ;
it
which was placed scarcely twenty inches from the foot of
common plant in the neighborShe was Bembex rostrata at work at
a swallow-wort, a rather
hood
of the ruin.
provisioning her nest.
Moved by
going on to breakfast,
curiosity, instead of
I
awaited the exit from the nest, which took place in about five
Bembex
minutes.
from the side of the I
looked
at
my
I to
Ought
w-atch
scratched the sand and took flight
cliff.
How
and
arose.
long would she be away?
go or to wait a little while ? I took the latter of malice, and without any idea of trying a
Out
decision.
control experiment to the admirable observations which
whom
science owes to the naturalist of Se'rignan, of
not thinking at
all, I
swallow-wort and planted it
about two
plant a I
little
feet,
it
a
little
to put in place of the
fragment of a bottle which
wasp dropped straight on
cut the plant, that
is
I
to say,
it
found
in the mill.
Twenty minutes where I had
to the place
deviated from
its
nest by a
distance about equal to the displacement to which
walked right and antennas, appearing confused as to the 126
subjected the swallow-wort. tating
its
was
nearer the mill, moving
and being careful
seated myself in the shade and waited.
later the
I
cut close to the sand the stalk of the
It
I
had
left, agi-
locality.
AN ISLAND SETTLEMENT I
followed these goings and comings for two or three Several times
minutes.
it
always searching about.
was now relieved me,
to
near,
go back
made
about.
as
away and then returned, Pitying it and desiring, since I flew
to catch
if
it,
my
net and drawing
swinging the pocket rapidly
veered away with a quick jerk of the wings.
It
then took up the swallow-wort,
marked
which the heat had caused
of the fatigue
to breakfast, I took
lifting the
I
fragment which
original place, and replanted it in the sand. I again looked at my watch to see whether I could consecrate yet a few more minutes to curiosity without mak-
ing
my
its
kind host,
friend Dr.
my
who honored me with wait too long.
M
Ci;
Rivron, and his wife,
the charming hospitality of Kursac,
was only half past eleven ; we usually it would take only a
It
did not breakfast until about noon;
quarter of an hour to traverse the distance from the mill of
Caudan
to the house.
I
could then, without fear of be-
This lapse of time
ing chided, dispose of fifteen minutes.
would perhaps
suffice to
this time find the I
waited a
Bembex, coming the plant,
way
little;
still
show me whether my
my
would
minutes had not passed when my an arrow, alighted on the sand near
five
like
holding the prey which
she departed at
bestiole
to her nest without hesitation.
I
had noticed when
chasing her, after her vain attempts to
find the entrance to her nest
;
but this time she did not
hunt long. She felt about a little to right and left, but soon turned directly toward the entrance to the tunnel, distant scarcely two inches from the place where she had settled.
My Bembex
had a memory. 127
AND SOLITARY
WASPS, SOCIAL
A
curious thing about these wasps, and one which
shows how much
work
common
to
all
the residents
be present, digging their nests, carrying in their
and chasing the parasites
with a tremendous amount of
Then suddenly
dance over the
field,
and
coming
at a time,
scene awakens to
life.
flies,
all
Nothing
gone.
re-
which keep up a giddy
for ten or fifteen
Then
place seems deserted.
humming and swooping
they are
mains but multitudes of
several
their hunting expedi-
At one time
booty, dashing at each other,
about.
that they
few minutes of each other, and returning
together after the chase.
seem
on
in waves, all starting off
tions within a
is
feeling they have,
minutes the
the wasps begin to return,
and as
More than
nothing home with them, and
if
by magic the whole
half of the
these
fall to
wasps bring
robbing their
more fortunate companions. Those that are carrying flies must pause a moment, burdened as they are, to scratch
away
the earth at the entrance to the nest.
unmolested they go in very quickly, but point that the marauders
it is
When
just at this
upon them, displaying an and energy in their attacks that, fall
amount
of persistence
were
properly directed, might easily enable them to
it
secure
flies
for themselves.
We once saw a wasp
that
had been fortunate enough,
or perhaps unfortunate enough, to catch an
128
immense
AN ISLAND SETTLEMENT fly,
on both
the wings of which stood out
sides very con-
This made her an especial mark
spicuously.
for her
unprincipled relatives. Half a dozen of them chased her about, like chickens pursuing one of their
has found a worm.
She
and swooped around
circled
and
number
settled,
and
that
circled
for five or six minutes, continually
pursued and attacked by the robbers, and quite unable to get into her nest. At last, curious to see what she was carrying,
we made her drop her
We found
ourselves.
it
to
be a horse
showing no marks of violence.
we afterward
fed
it
to
load,
It
and secured
it
for
quite dead, but
fly,
was not wasted,
one of our wasp nurslings
at
for
home.
At another time we saw one wasp attack another that
was bringing owner
lost
in a
fly.
In the struggle that ensued the
her booty, as the two rolled over and over on
the ground, and as they parted
They and At
was
clinched again, and rolled on
this
time the
fly
was a male, and that
we
seized
this
by the
thief.
the ground as before,
was recovered by the
this point, thinking that
ship,
it
rightful owner.
perhaps one of the wasps
might be their
seized both of them;
style of court-
whereupon the
fly
was
to dropped, and the two wasps turned their attention us. Both proved to be females. Not only do
attacking the
Bembecids
their prey
-
-
fight in this
way
for the possession of
they quarrel even without apparent cause. 129
AND SOLITARY
WASPS, SOCIAL
We
have seen two females digging
their nests at a
little
was repeatedly attacked by
distance apart, one of which
the other, although she did nothing to provoke the ag-
They
gressor.
no idea of
living in
ing manner, of
way
When
harmony.
and have
flying in a threaten-
either at us or at each other, they
wagging
side in a
In
are certainly very unneighborly,
way
their
abdomens
have a
from side
violently
to
well calculated to inspire terror.
warm sunny
weather spinolae works industriously
through the middle of the day, and seems determined to provide abundantly, not only for her for for.
any unbidden guests that
it
own
may be
She never works more than four or
offspring, but
her fate to care five
hours a day,
however, and in unfavorable weather she does not work
On
going over to the island one cloudy morning
at
all.
to
spend some hours
we found the
first
all
watching the Bembex
the spot quiet and
lifeless.
activities,
No one seeing it for
time would have dreamed of the multitudes of
living creatures
be
in
beneath his
closed, but
feet.
The
nests
seemed
to
on peering curiously about we found
one on sloping ground, in the suburbs of the colony, of
which the door was open. Just within was the proprietor gazing out on the landscape, as she tration.
She seemed
to
is
shown
in the illus-
be leaning on her elbows, and
her face, enlivened by two great goggle eyes, had an
130
AN ISLAND SETTLEMENT irresistibly
comical aspect.
omnipresent
the exception of the
wasp was the only sign of life Even in good weather, and in working
flies,
about the place.
With
this
BEMBEX SPINDLY LOOKING OUT OF NEST hours, the wasps sometimes rest, for
we have
seen them
go in empty-handed, closing the door behind them, to
remain for half an hour
at a time. t
There
is
one thought that must strike even a casual
observer at the sight of the hordes of parasites that
hover over a
Bembex
colony:
-
AND SOLITARY
WASPS, SOCIAL "
The buzzing
flies,
a persevering train,
Incessant swarm, and chased return again."
Why do not these wasps, fession,
kill
fly-catchers as they are
the worthless wretches
homes, thriving abundantly on the a continual menace to the spring
To
?
it
fruits of their labor,
and
life
the uninitiated
by pro-
that infest their
safety of their off-
would seem that these
flies
might serve as food for the wasp larvae quite as well as any of the
dozen species that they actually take
;
but even
if
the wasp-mother believes that they possess indigestible qualities,
it
would be much
throw them away than to a
little
to
distance only to see
them return
she gives her attention to anything
reason for
it
the
certainly
flies is
explanation
own
may be, is
The but
idea
we
is
as soon as
Whatever the
else.
the relation between the wasps and
most curious and puzzling.
that since this miserable
part to play in nature,
thus preserving
them and
less trouble to kill
be perpetually chasing them
harmony
has
its
respect
it,
little fly
Bembex must
in the
Fabre's
world of living things.
perfectly in accord with his
own
find ourselves quite unable to accept
theories,
it.
There can be no doubt that the parasites are a grave danger to Bembex. She
suffers
from them
far
more than
any other wasp that we are familiar with, her mode of feeding the young rendering her peculiarly susceptible
132
AN ISLAND SETTLEMENT Of
to their attacks.
opened only one was
the ten or twelve nests that
we
from them, the others con-
free
taining from two to five lively maggots nearly as large as the in
wasp
larvae,
by the mother.
which were sharing the food brought
thoroughly, has found as
one
nest.
are most
He
who has
Fabre,
many
studied the question
as ten parasitic larvae in
has also noticed that where the parasites
numerous the wasp-larva
is
proportionately
small and emaciated, reaching only one half or one third of it
its
normal
When
size.
it
attempts to spin
has not strength enough to do
miserably
among
so,
cocoon
its
and thus perishes
the pupae of the interlopers, which have
the advantage of developing more rapidly.
by experiments upon nests transported
He has proved,
to his study, that
although the invaders preserve friendly relations with the rightful
owner
of the nest so long as food
abun-
is
dant, they nevertheless, at the first suggestion of scarcity, fall
upon the wasp
larva
and
ruthlessly
'black action" he has seen with his of this base ingratitude,
we
are
with the troubles of the poor tries to
feed a dozen
devour
own
eyes.
it.
This
In view
more than ever impressed
Bembex mother,
as she
mouths where she has bargained
for
only one.
We several times saw a fly follow a wasp into her nest, remaining within for half a minute, and 133
it
is
probable
AND SOLITARY
WASPS, SOCIAL
that they go in to lay their eggs. is
the habit of the
According
that are parasitic
flies
upon
dozen species of Bembex that he has studied
moment
men of
which the
at
projects
fly
to Fabre,
it
the half-
to seize the
from under the abdo-
wasp as she enters the nest and he has even known them to lay two or three eggs on one fly in the the
;
instant of time that
its
body was exposed.
Fabre took a partly grown Bembex larva from the nest,
where
He
flies.
making a
it
fed
was surrounded by the remains it
generously, and
total of
it
ate sixty-two more,
eighty-two in the eight days that
Our
passed before the spinning of the cocoon.
ments
in this line
of twenty
gave similar results.
We
experi-
took charge
grown larva on the afternoon of August tenth, and between that date and August fifteenth, when it of a partly
spun
its
cocoon,
it
ate forty-two house
flies
besides a big
Tabanus. Fabre thinks that under natural conditions the mother does not give the larva vides
it
all it
can eat at one time, but pro-
with what she considers a reasonable amount of
and keeps anything that she catches beyond out of its reach. He draws his conclusion from the food,
that he has found several
certainly
fact
in the tunnel leading to the
many more close to it. It be convenient for Bembex to have a
nest, while the larva
would
flies
this
had
as
134
AN ISLAND SETTLEMENT reserve of this kind in case of rainy weather, but the
forethought implied in such an action seems to require a higher degree of intelligence than can be claimed for her.
In one nest we found a single
fly
with a long cylindri-
cal egg attached to the left side of the thorax just at the
origin of the third leg.
made and
provisioned,
which we judged
to
egg was laid on the
two days
to hatch.
In another, which we had seen
we
found, six days
be four days first
day,
it
old.
Assuming
must have taken
Other nests gave us
stages of development, surrounded
a larva
later,
that the it
about
larvae in all
by the remains of
among which Syrphus, Tabanus, and Musca
Diptera,
were represented. In regard to the condition of the
flies
captured by Bembex, we have never seen the crushing of the thorax, which is noted by both Wesenberg and Fabre. Indeed, the
flies
that
we found were
not always dead, since in
two instances they responded readily
to stimulation.
W. Dun-
Similar results have been obtained by Mr. S.
ning of Hartford, Connecticut.
Twice we have seen our
home her
spinolae, as she
prey, alight near the nest
held with the second pair of legs. cess distinctly, since she
is
and
We
was bringing
sting
it
as
it
was
could see the pro-
slow and clumsy, and, in jon 135
\^.
^
'
c
A -
AND SOLITARY
WASPS, SOCIAL instance, to
had
difficulty in
reaching the
one side in an awkward manner.
that this
is
It is
fly,
falling over
probable, then,
a habit with the wasp, but that the sting
is
usually given at the place of capture.
We opened a number of Bembex nests, in raising only
one larva, which we took when
grown. This one, during the it
five
although
flies, it
was
half
flies.
Mr. Bates has some notes on Monedula takes nothing but
it
days that passed before
spun the cocoon, ate forty-three
species,
but succeeded
and even confines
signata,
itself to
which
a single
must sometimes go half a mile away
BEMBEX to find
it.
This reminds us of Pompilus quinquenotatus,
which never takes anything but Epeira
A
strix.
considerable contribution to our knowledge of the
genus
Bembex has been made 136
in the
paper by Wesen-
}
'-
r <-x~^
-
v
~?^^iiV^^<^5r$riv^^^ "jf ^x&s-^Zzl
-~ 5*^* >'-^-. ^^j^-ifc ^ _^-
^. -
^r&*3
.^-:
*:
-K ^-o-Ttss^^i ^ - ^*-V^- ^i*^ ^ -^^^T
w. i\,2r-~ *~r
''
3i#SS?vv5 .-4 X>* il-T-Ci
?
-**<*
^^r-?Js-%^jeSSS^^^TS^^.^t?S*S
A CORNER OF THE BEMBEX COLONY
AN ISLAND SETTLEMENT berg (written in Danish) which has already been referred to.
This paper deals with Bembex
lated for
Mr. Ashmead by Mr. Martin
seems that rostrata makes
It
rostrata. It
its
covering little flat
stone, to prevent parasites
cell
Linell.
nest in solid sand,
up with loose sand, and usually,
it
was trans-
also,
from entering. The
measures one cubic inch, the entrance tunnel being
one and one half centimeters long, and arcuate. contains four or five fresh
and
with a
flies
A
cell
(Lucilia, Eristalis, etc.),
and
torn-off wings, sucked-out thoraces,
in the
mid-
dle of these, a big flat larva.
When
the larva
and more
flies,
is
the
hatched the mother brings more
flies
being larger and larger as
This adjustment of the
grows.
it
size of the fly to the
growth of the larva has also been noted by Fabre.
Wesenberg says spot as big as a
The time
He
one nest?
To
this giving five or six
" queries,
will nest
on a
of three months.
and
if so,
ing them with nests
young ones
is
for the
Does each female have more than
how can
determine this point
their
Bembecids
required for the development of the larva
two weeks, season.
that fifty
room during a period
she
we marked
remember them?" six
wasps by touch-
differently colored paints, putting near
pebbles painted to correspond with the
owners, and then watched them closely for three hours. 139
WASPS, SOCIAL During
this
AND SOLITARY
time the red wasp returned regularly to the
red nest, the blue to the blue, and so on.
watched
for
They were
an hour and a half on the following day
with the same
result, so that
spinolae has only
it
seems quite certain that
one nest at a time.
at once, with interlopers
thrown
in,
To
feed two larvae
would be a heavier
task than the most determined industry could accomplish.
Chapter VII
THE BURROWERS in describing the fearful ravages of Cer-
DUFOUR, ceris ornata among the bees, says that of this genus are
among
hawks are among does not seem to
other insects what eagles and
While
birds.
fit
the
the wasps
this characterization
American
species,
it is
certainly
true that the genus stands out as one of those in
which
the distinctive peculiarities are strongly marked.
They
might be considered the aristocrats in the world of wasps, their habits of reposeful meditation
hurried ways being far removed
and
their calm, un-
from the nervous
ners of the Pompilidae or the noisy, tumultuous
Bembex. Their
intelligence
to betray their nests, slight
change
is
shown by
and by
to
life
of
their reluctance
their uneasiness at
in the objects that
not necessary to attempt
man-
surround them.
catch them or to
any It is
make
threatening gestures, in order to arouse their sense of
danger.
If
you are
sitting quietly
by a nest when the
wasp opens her door in the morning she will at once, and will probably drop out of sight 141
notice
you
as though
WASPS, SOCIAL
AND SOLITARY
she resented your intrusion into her privacy. little
After a
come up again and will learn to tolerate the least movement on your part, almost at
she will
you, but at
the winking of an eyelid, she will disappear.
Our
four representatives of this genus
all
prey upon
beetles that are injurious to
vegetation,
and therefore
de-
serve the gratitude of agri-
Nigrescens, with
culturists.
her pale grayish bands,
is
a
very trying wasp to deal with.
We had seen her flying in the
fore
about
garden for weeks be-
we succeeded
ing her home,
in track-
and when we
did succeed she was so late
about getting up in the morning, stayed
so
away from home
many hours at a time, and
went
to
bed so early
afternoon, that
nest
front
all
day.
Fumipennis,
and handsome, with a broad yellow band of the
abdomen,
not
well repaid for watching her
NEST OF CERCERIS NIGRESCENS
large
in the
we were
is
another wasp
142
at the
that has
no
THE BURROWERS regard for the convenience of the people
You may
ing her.
sit
for hours
when she comes she drops
unless you are very
in
much on your
guard, you are not sure even then what she
and
are watch-
by her big open hole
without seeing her, and so suddenly that,
who
is.
Clypeata
deserta are better subjects for study.
The very
nests of our species are all deep, tortuous,
difficult to excavate.
We
and
have never succeeded in
finding their pockets;
and
we
reasons,
various
for
yet,
feel
per-
fectly certain that
of
them
are
like
all
C.
ornata in provisioning, successively, a
of cells of
which lead out
main
the
When
number
one of these
deposited,
it
CERCERIS CLYPEATA
gallery.
is
cells is filled
with food, and the egg
probably closed up, and thus separated
from the runway.
From our
experience late in the
season with the nests of another wasp, to think that ets
at the
higher up,
we made
we
are inclined
a mistake in looking for pock-
lower end of the tunnel.
Had we
at the point of the curve,
searched
we might have
found them, the lower part of the gallery probably being 143
WASPS, SOCIAL
AND SOLITARY
designed merely for a dwelling-place for the mother of the family.
But although we did not
get distinct pockets, there
was, in at least one nest, a supply of food that would
have far exceeded the wants of a single larva.
We
did not succeed in finding eggs on different groups of beetles
;
but from a nest into which the wasp was
we took a half-grown being hers. The fact, too,
larva which
carrying food
still
was
that a
wasp occu-
pies a nest for so long a time as ten days or
two weeks
points to the conclusion that she uses
number
of
once.
In
identified as
eggs which are
Cerceris digs her nest, deep as this she is
it
for a
laid at intervals. it is,
all at
a contrast to her near relatives of the genus
Philanthus,
who busy
themselves for an hour or so every
morning with fresh excavations.
On
the eighth of July the weather
bright that
we went down
eight o'clock,
knowing
to the
that
it
was
garden
so
warm and
at half past
was rather
early,
but
hoping that the hot sunshine would tempt the wasps to industry.
when
A
We had walked up and down several times,
suddenly, right in the pathway, a nest appeared.
great quantity of loose earth
had been taken out and
heaped up, probably on the preceding day, and midst of this a
little
in the
hole had been opened since
144
we
THE BURROWERS The
passed before.
down
sat
to
watch
place looked so promising that
it,
and a few minutes
rewarded by a glimpse of some antennse down the lery,
we
we were
later
gal-
and then a little face with yellow markings appeared
but quickly vanished.
Now
followed a very coquettish
The wasp came
performance.
and again, only
to
slowly creeping
up again
drop out of sight as soon as she had
reached the opening. After a time she grew bolder, and sat in her
doorway, twitching her head
that in a very expressive
this
way and
manner, as though she were
planning the work of the day; but
it
was plain
that
although she was up early, business cares were not
weighing heavily upon her mind, for forty minutes passed before she came out of the nest, and after making three or four circles about the spot, flew away.
How much livelier and more interesting it would have been if we could have followed her! We tried to guess at
what she was doing, and imagined her hunting
dustriously.
After fifteen or twenty minutes
to us that she
at all,
in-
seemed
must have caught something, and
she was surely returning.
working
it
that
Most probably she was not
but was breakfasting leisurely and ex-
changing compliments with her neighbors for when she ;
did
come home
and a
after
keeping us waiting for an hour
half, she brought nothing with her, and seemed
145
AND SOLITARY
WASPS, SOCIAL
quite unconscious of the fact that greater things
been expected of
We mark
had
her.
had placed a stone upon a dead
near by, to
leaf
the neighborhood of the nest, thinking that even a
Cerceris could not object to so simple an arrangement
wasp noticed it at once, and She evidently with much suspicion and disapproval.
of natural objects; but our
began by
on
alighted it,
in
above
circling several times just it
and examined
it
carefully,
and creeping underneath, perhaps any way menaced the safety of her
She then rose on her wings, and
dropped suddenly
cling,
So far
from
this
hurry,
nest,
may
it
perhaps as
the day before.
after a little
getting
more
cir-
on very rapidly, but
time things took a turn. Cerceris yet she
whether
into her hole.
we had not been
and
she
walking over
to see
made
the completion of a locality study
Then
it.
is
never in a
be relied upon to do a certain
work every day. The one that we were now watching had probably come back for a final look at her
amount
of
newly made nest before beginning
to provision
it;
for
she soon reappeared, and this time really went to work, since in forty minutes she brought
home a
beetle
which
she carried by the snout, venter up, in her mandibles,
supporting
it
with the second pair of legs while flying.
She was much annoyed
at
our presence, and circled
146
THE BURROWERS about as before. Twice she alighted near by, and walked
around
few minutes, and when she did
for a
her feet came
down
to the
At
allowed to hang loosely.
bad matter, and went
in.
this all
ground, the beetle being
made
the best of a
rest of the
morning was
she
last
The
occupied with hunting, the capture of each beetle taking
Every time that she came
about forty-five minutes.
home
she spent fifteen or twenty minutes in the nest.
This species soon became very common, and for two
weeks scarcely a morning passed without our finding least
ever,
one newly-made
The
nest.
at
study of clypeata, how-
consumes a great deal of time.
For example, we
found, one morning, two nests within six inches of each other. It turned out afterward that these
by two
different
wasps but ;
at the
were inhabited
moment we supposed
them had been dug and deserted and then a second one made, and wishing to know which one was that one of
occupied
we
resolved to watch
for three hours
and
we saw one wasp
see.
After waiting
returning; but
upon
noticing us she veered off and began to circle about.
She was heavily laden, and her burden, instead of being supported by the second pair of case,
hung down under
legs, as is
the thorax
sometimes the
and abdomen. After
a moment she alighted on a plant near by, and seemed to consider the situation, then circled a little more, and 147
AND SOLITARY
WASPS, SOCIAL
flew away, remaining out of sight for fifteen minutes,
then another return, more circlings and hesitations. She
seemed
now, and alighted
to feel the weight of the beetle
and walked about;
frequently on the ground
would not go
in, so reluctant
was she
yet she
to betray her nest.
way she kept us waiting for a whole hour, although we were not very near to her, and were as In this
still
as statues.
At
last
back as we could and
now came for a
we
still
closer, and, after
moment, dropped
retreated,
and stood
as far
keep the hole in view.
She
hanging poised on her wings
into her nest.
We once found a nest of this species in process of conA
struction.
out,
which
large
heap of fresh earth had been pushed
entirely covered the spot; but at intervals
there were upheavals from below which betrayed the
presence of the wasp.
When we saw
it first it
was
half
and we judged, from what had been accomplished, that she must have been at work at least an hour. It was half past nine before the excavation was
past eight o'clock,
We
had not been
up to this time, as to what we were watching but now we had the pleasure of seeing her open her doorway from below and stand complete.
certain,
;
in the entrance while she feet, like
the
When
fore
mouth
of the hole
which are yellow, are bowed
in a semi-
a cat.
first legs,
washed her face with her
they rest at the
148
THE BURROWERS circle
on each side of the yellow
being bent up their elbows.
bex
This
spinolse, gives
legged appearance.
morning
at
face, the distal joints
so that the wasps seem to be standing on attitude,
them a
They
often seen in
Bem-
delightfully amusing,
bow-
which
is
usually open their nests in the
about nine o'clock,
-
-
a
little
earlier or later
according to the time at which the sun strikes the spot.
Then they spend from forty minutes to an hour in taking a survey, the least movement on the part of a watcher causing them to drop out of sight as given
the earth
if
Sometimes there
way beneath them.
is
a
had little
way-station an inch or two within the tunnel, and the
wasp
falls
seen,
if
back only
to this point,
and here she may be
one peeps in cautiously, either quietly awaiting
the retreat of the intruder, or, perhaps, performing her toilet in
a leisurely and elegant manner.
Whenever she
leaves her nest she
makes
three or four
rapid circles around the spot to freshen her
The most thorough
the locality.
made by clypeata was before, that
was
of our being
When
she stayed only an instant posit her load
wasp mentioned
so long in carrying her beetle in because
on the ground.
-
study
in the case of the
memory of that we saw
-
she finally did go in
just long
enough
to de-
and then came out and spent a long
time in an investigation of
all
149
the surrounding objects,
AND SOLITARY
WASPS, SOCIAL
and out among the plants, now high, now low, and circling again and again around the spot. It looked
flying in
as though she
presence of
had been puzzled and disturbed by the things. As soon as the survey
unaccustomed
was over she went its
object
and closed the door,
inside
had been not
so
much
as though
to strengthen her
mem-
ory as to correct former impressions.
The work ularly,
and
of bringing in beetles goes as a rule not
on very
more than two
stored in the course of a day.
It is
or three are
not unusual for cly-
peata to spend three or four hours away from
then come back without anything
irreg-
;
and
home and
often,
even in
the middle of the day, she passes an hour or two in the seclusion of her nest.
vation for a
week
We had several nests under obser-
at a time without ever
once seeing the
owners, although they were evidently occupied, since they were sometimes open and sometimes closed. outer entrance
is
always
open when the wasp goes
left
away, although possibly access to the pockets barred below; but unless she is
when
The
may
be
she enters she closes the door
means to come out again at
once.
The
closing
sometimes effected by pushing the earth up backwards,
with the end of the large for this
comes up head
abdomen but ;
the hole
is
rather too
method, and more frequently the wasp first,
carrying a load of earth in her front
150
THE BURROWERS This
legs.
placed just within and to one side of the
and then more armfuls are brought up,
entrance, after
is
two or three
We
trips, the
is
opening
once captured the wasp in a
entirely filled.
bottle, as she re-
She dropped the
turned, loaded, to the nest.
until,
beetle,
up again and stung it vigorously, with as the French say, first under the neck, and
but soon picked intention,
it
then further back, behind the
After
pair of legs.
first
was dropped while the wasp fluttered about for a few minutes, but it was then picked up again, and stung this
it
as before.
exactly the
We
both saw
same way, four
this operation
repeated in
different times, with intervals
of five or six minutes between.
In a nest which we excavated after watching nine days,
down, and
we found nothing until we had gone at this point the tunnel
with the crumbly earth that
was
we took
lost
;
it
for
six inches
but mixed
out of the hole,
we
found eight beetles and a half-grown larva of clypeata.
The
was accomplished one
destruction of this nest
morning, and when we came back to the spot twentyfour hours later
we found
close by, doubtless
that a
by the same
new one had been made individual.
pected to find her bringing beetles foolishly
ornata,
on the ground
and were
like
We
had
ex-
and dropping them
Paul Marchal's Cerceris
gratified that she
showed an advance
WASPS, SOCIAL
AND SOLITARY
in intelligence over that species, although to be sure she
would have been
wiser had she chosen an entirely
still
new neighborhood.
Another individual was so much
disturbed by our scrutiny that she dropped her beetle at the entrance to her nest.
and
utilize
although
it,
it
She did not pick
it
up again
lay for three days in the dust at
the threshold.
As in the
to the condition of the beetles stored first
nest that
we opened we found
by clypeata
:
eight, seven of
which were dead, while the eighth, which we had
just
seen stung several times, was alive, but died on the
fol-
lowing day.
The second
them dead and
we found there
Of
dry.
nest gave us five beetles,
all
of
In the other nests that we opened
nothing, though
had we only been
we knew
skillful
that the beetles were
enough
to discover
them.
Cerceris deserta, which closely resembles clypeata,
but appears later in the season, ample.
We
we had
only a single ex-
chanced to see her dropping into a crevice
among some lumps believe that this
of earth,
and
at first could scarcely
was the dwelling-place
of a wasp, as
was nothing whatever about it to indicate a nest; and even after we had removed the rough pieces of earth
there
above,
we could
see nothing of the loose material that
must have been carried She was much
out.
like clypeata in her
152
manners, with the
THE BURROWERS same habit
of surveying the world
from her doorway,
and manifesting the same annoyance at our presence when she was returning to the nest; but she carried in
more
beetles in the course of the
day and worked much
CERCERIS DESERTA: LOCALITY STUDY BEFORE
LEAVING NEST
more
Between nine and eleven o'clock one
rapidly.
morning she brought
in five loads,
and some
of the
journeys occupied only ten minutes.
The circled
first
about for nearly an hour, seeming unable to
make up little
time that she found us sitting by her nest she
her
mind
way, but
to enter.
still
At length we withdrew a
her suspicions were not entirely
153
WASPS, SOCIAL allayed;
and
after a further study of the situation she
own
dropped, not into her
nest,
but into a large cricket
Taken aback by this manoeuvre, and perhaps we had a second individual to
hole near by.
thinking that deal with,
AND SOLITARY
we
approached, and peering
stealthily
in,
could see the cricket inside, the wasp having slipped It
beyond.
did not seem possible that the
little
creature
could be endeavoring to deceive us, and yet what other explanation could be offered for her conduct
?
We again
took up our distant position, and after ten minutes more
had the
satisfaction of seeing the
wasp
slip
out of the
and drop instantly into the true one. After a she became quite accustomed to us, and entered
false nest little
her nest without the least delay.
The prey of deserta we were watching
while
the second legs, even
much
is
it
main
with
flying.
a pretty
little
yellow-banded
resembling Cerceris in appearance.
nest consists of a it,
her she did not support
when
Philanthus punctatus species
held in the mandibles, and
is
gallery with pockets leading
The from
each pocket being stored with one egg and enough
bees to nourish a single larva.
from the cocoon they
and they
the wasps emerge
find themselves in the
their nearest relatives
place,
When
all live
and
company
of
in possession of a dwelling-
together for a time before starting
154
THE BURROWERS On
out independently to seek their fortunes. of
the fifth
August we discovered on the island a happy family of
and four
this kind, consisting of three brothers
sisters,
and mandi-
the females, with their bright yellow faces
bles, being handsomer than the males. They seemed to be on the most amicable terms with each other, their
only trouble being that while they were
doorway was too small
ing out, the
The
at a time.
was opened
nest
all
to hold
in the
fond of look-
more than one
morning
at
about
nine o'clock, and during the next thirty or forty minutes their comical
faces
little
would appear, one
after an-
other, each
wasp enjoying the view for a few minutes with many twitchings of the head, and then retreating to
make way
for another,
Then one by one
hint from behind. out, circle
perhaps in response to some they would
come
about the spot, and depart, sometimes leaving
one of their number to keep house usually
left
within,
it
the hole open; but
all
when
day alone. They there
was soon closed from below.
was a wasp During
this
playtime period they did not return until they were
ready to
home
settle
down
at half after
arriving at intervals, five.
for the night, the first
none of them staying out
Most commonly they found
trouble, scratched
one coming
two or three o'clock, and the others
open the
hole,
155
later
than
the right spot without
and then
either closed
AND SOLITARY
WASPS, SOCIAL it
behind them or stood waiting in the doorway for the
next arrival; but occasionally they had difficulty in locating the nest, and worked at two or three different places before finding
We
it.
kept these wasps under close observation, often
watching the nest from the moment
morning
until
it
was closed
On we
August, a week from the time that
one of the females
down upon began
her.
felt
was opened
it
at night.
in the
the twelfth of
first
saw them,
the responsibilities of
life settling
At half
after four in the afternoon she
to enlarge the nest,
and worked with a great deal
of energy for forty minutes.
After a long disappearance
come up backwards, kicking earth which was not only taken
within the hole she would
behind her a quantity of outside, but
was then spread out
worked with the inward, after the
front pair of legs,
manner
or some such object it
of
came
to a distance with her
her with her head in a
is
much
half inches
in her
way
is
She
which were curved
Bembex; and when a pebble
way
she either dragged it
before
quite peculiar to herself.
was taken
from the nest
greater than
and wide.
mandibles or pushed
distributing the earth that
and one
far
-
out, she -
went
In five
a distance which
common among
wasps, but
which accords well with the habits of punctatus, since she continues the work of excavation from day to day.
156
THE BURROWERS On August ing,
thirteenth, at half after eight in the
we found
morn-
that a second female, perhaps inspired
the example of her
by
sister,
had made a new
nest
within two inches of the first
one,
away,
and had flown
leaving
it
open.
Presently the other wasps
began
to appear,
one after
the other, in their door-
Two
way.
flew away, that
PHILANTHUS PUNCTATUS of the males
and one
of the females, doubtless the one
we had seen digging
work
afresh at
the night before, began to
making the
Probably she
nest larger.
was excavating a pocket for the reception of an egg, and the amount of labor required was ernormously increased by the great length (about twenty-two inches) of the
main
gallery
be carried out.
by which the displaced earth must
She worked
for
an hour, and
ing the dirt about, inadvertently of the second nest.
filled in
in spread-
the opening
At length she flew away.
At ten o'clock a female arrived carrying a tried to find nest
No.
2.
She came
and worked about, here and
bee,
and
to the
there, for
wrong place, some minutes,
holding the bee under the thorax, clasped by the second 157
AND SOLITARY
WASPS, SOCIAL
pair of legs. Being unsuccessful, she dropped her burden,
and flew away
we removed a
for a
While she was gone
few minutes.
had
leaf that
fallen over her nest,
and on
her return she at once descended upon the right spot,
and began
open the entrance, the bee being
to scratch
When
kicked backward with the rejected earth.
way was
clear, however, she picked
toward the
dropped
hole,
nearer, ran in again,
it,
it
ran in and out, brought
it
and turning around
performance was due
closed, pauses
on the wing
the
The bee
first legs.
she goes
in,
it
down. This
that
is
to scratch
punctatus
when
directly into her nest, or,
flies
ordinarily
and pulled
in the tunnel,
to the accidental obstruction of
we afterward found
for
the
up, brought
seized the bee in her mandibles
the gallery,
it
is
it
an opening with
pushed backward a
little
as
but does not often project from under her
abdomen. At
fifteen
minutes after ten the worker from nest No.
i
brought in a bee, and from that time the two worked industriously.
ways, for
No.
They showed some 2
away, and never circled at circled before leaving,
To be sure,
there
haps she did not
individuality in their
always closed her door all,
while No.
and always
was a female feel the
when
left
left
invariably
her nest open.
on guard, so
need of caution. 158
i
she went
that per-
THE BURROWERS Our wasps had
not far to go for their victims.
Forty
away, on the eastern side of the island, was a steep
feet
declivity,
and
here, in the soft
No
Halictus settlement.
than
soil,
was a great
can be imagined
prettier sight
presented by this colony on every sunny
is
The whole bank
day.
crumbly
is
riddled with nests,
summer
and
at the
entrance of each stands a female bee, her tiny head exactly filling the opening.
The
bees are constantly arriv-
ing, laden with pollen, whereupon the sentinels politely
back inward
to
make way
for them.
Into this scene of
contented industry descends the ravaging Philanthus, taking guards and workers alike.
On
the afternoon of the fourteenth of August our two
wasps were
in the full tide of affairs.
No.
i
took in eleven
bees within two hours, but her record was somewhat
confused, as two other females were going in and out at the
same
time.
We
hunting, but one of
felt
sure that neither of these was
them shared
in the labor of the nest
by helping with the work of excavation. No.
2,
definite
however, was alone, so that we could keep a
account of her comings and goings.
her from half past one until
came home without a
load,
five,
and
at
at
We watched
which hour she
once closed the nest
for the night, after having stored thirteen bees in three
hours and nine minutes.
In some cases the capture of 159
WASPS, SOCIAL
AND SOLITARY
the bee occupied only one, two, or three minutes, while
was gone much longer. At each return she stayed only an instant - just long enough to deinside the nest, and then spent a minute posit the bee at other times she
-
-
The wasps
in carefully closing the hole. in
and out
No.
of nest
went away, but
this
i
that were going
sometimes closed
was done
in
it
when
from the nicety and precision of No.
different
At half
after five o'clock the
ging for
some
opened
it,
little
wasp
time at nest No.
and attempted
to
they
an untidy fashion, quite
i
enter,
2.
had been
that
flew to nest
dig-
No.
2,
but was quickly
driven out by the owner. She then dug a
little
in several
other places, finally returning to sleep in the family
home.
On the next day we found that No.
ing in her nest one of the females that to hunt, but
whether
it
On
tell.
wasp had
left this
herself four feet still
member
begun
rejected the
temporary home and made a nest
away on the
the weather
to
yet
of the sisterhood,
hillside.
we
for
The males were
two females.
was cold and cloudy punctatus
remained closely housed within the
came out
tolerat-
the eighteenth, three days later, the
living in the first nest with
When
was
had not
was the one she had
night before or the fourth
could not
2
nest, or, at most,
do an hour's digging, and then disappeared.
The warmer
the weather,
and the more
1 60
brilliant the
THE BURROWERS more rapidly they worked. When leaving they would often creep out and walk around
sunshine, the the nest it
three or four times before rising
on
their wings,
and
even then would sometimes alight once or twice before flying
The
away.
males, especially, liked to stand about
for a time,
watching their more industrious
their work.
The
ging,
sisters
at
females usually began the day with dig-
and frequently closed
it,
toward night, in the same
way. In order to see the method of stinging, we at one time provided ourselves with a number of bees, and putting
one of them into a it
bottle,
introduced a wasp. She seized
almost immediately, with great vigor, and stung
it
up and down the bottle by one antenna which was held in the mandibles. After a moment she shifted it and held it with
once, under the neck, and then dragged
the second legs in the usual way. bee,
which she
it
We now put in another
also caught, stung in the
same
place,
then dropped without relaxing her hold of the
As she seemed released her,
to
and
one.
have nothing further to show us we after circling a little she took into her
nest the bee that she
was
carrying.
In our next experiment we used a larger
glass, thinking
more space we might see malaxation. The that the wasp was introduced she grasped the
that with instant
first
and
161
AND SOLITARY
WASPS, SOCIAL
bee with one rapid powerful motion, and stung
Then
under the neck as before. second legs she began to
fly
with the
glass.
We now
introduced another bee, whereupon the relinquished,
stinging
of the operation,
and
shown by
one was
in exactly the
was the beginning and the end
and when we released her she
took the bee into the nest. outside,
first
and the second was treated
same way. The
just
it
holding
about in the
it
at
once
There was no malaxation
certainly there
was none
within, as
was
the rapidity with which the wasps issued from
We
the nest after storing the bees. getting the
wasps
ment with those
to sting only
were successful in
when we
that were hunting.
tried the experi-
When those that had
not yet begun to store their nests were put into the glass
they paid no attention to the bees.
The Life
This
victim of the sting of punctatus extinct
is is
from
is
killed at once.
the instant that the stroke
true also of the honey-bee that
is
is
given.
the victim of
Fabre's Philanthus apivorus; but the explanation that
he gives of the action of his wasp in thus dealing sudden death instead of paralyzing
its
foe
must be sucked out of the bee before as food for the larva since the
pollen
-
-
it
-
that the
honey
can be safely used
does not hold good in our case,
honey that Halictus
upon which her
-
carries to
offspring are fed,
162
is
mix with the not removed.
THE BURROWERS As time went on we found on
the island two other
Philanthus colonies, although that
word
to
apply to
and the other
is
rather too large a
them, since one consisted of four nests
When we came
of only two.
the nests of this species
we were
to excavate
greatly astonished at
the length of the gallery, and not until then did
we prop-
erly appreciate the industry of these little wasps.
It is
no small undertaking to follow one of their tunnels for
NEST OF PHILANTHUS PUNCTATUS A-B, 3j inches; B-C,
5
D-E,
inches;
C-D,
14 inches;
8 inches
twenty-two inches, even when, as in this case, the greater part of
it is
parallel to the surface of the ground.
was very crumbly we worked, but we came upon clumps of
did not find distinct pockets, as the
and
fell
in as
We
soil
bees an inch or so to one side of the gallery and about three
inches apart, with larvae in different stages of
development.
In one nest we found twenty-six bees in 163
AND SOLITARY
WASPS, SOCIAL two clumps, some of them fresh,
but
all
quite dead.
half- eaten,
We
and some
have no doubt that punc-
tatus completely provisions one pocket
opening from other,
The
and
closes the
into the gallery, before she starts an-
it
making a
them
of
series of six or eight
provision for one larva
is
cells.
independent
probably twelve or four-
teen bees, the capture of which, in good weather, would
be a
fair day's
work.
That the males do not always stay on in their ancestral home is shown by an observation that we made on the only occasion that
Nothing was
we ever saw this species
in our garden.
stirring at half past three o'clock in the
afternoon, and we had given up work and
started for
home, when, in going up an inclined part of the
we
hole which ran obliquely into the ground.
strange that a late
wasp should be beginning
an hour; but a wasp
when we took an
backward with
scarcely settled of the fuss
same
and
it
was, as
we
its
its
nest at so
to
began
It
was
mandibles, and then pushing
hind legs and abdomen.
down
seemed
could plainly see
watching
it
We
had
when a second one
species appeared, and with
flutter
its
It
attitude sufficiently humble.
loosening the earth with it
field,
noticed something in motion within a ragged-edged
a
good deal of
to dig its hole close by.
The
spot
chosen by this second one proved unsatisfactory, and 164
THE BURROWERS made
another beginning was
in a
new
At
last,
Again
place.
something was wrong, nor was a third choice any
better.
however, the work was started in earnest, and
might have been carried caught the
to a conclusion
if
we had
not
creature to satisfy a suspicion that had
little
been growing in our minds.
Yes,
we were
The
right.
worker was not a female making a nest for the rearing of her young, but a
male punctatus, preparing a
shelter
for the night.
In the
mean time
the
a quantity of earth that
wasp had pushed back such the hole was entirely closed, but
first
came backing out to clear the way. an hour all became quiet. The door
every few minutes he
At the end of half
remained closed, and doubtless the wasp was
fast asleep.
Putting a blade of grass and then an inverted tumbler
over the nest,
On
we
left
him
removing the glass
for the night. at half past seven the next
morning, we found the nest open but the wasp not ble.
At half past
eight the
head appeared
hole, the long antennae twitching
now
visi-
just inside the
to this side,
now
an inspection were being made. Soon the
to that, as
if
head came
out.
The wasp
stood for some minutes
ing a survey, looking to right
and
left
mak-
with lively jerks
of the body.
Then, apparently concluding that the day
was not
enough advanced, he came
far
165
out, whirled
WASPS, SOCIAL
AND SOLITARY He
around, and ran head-first into the nest.
was quiet
took another nap, for all
when
o'clock,
was taken
At
head in view. circles,
from within and then with the
first
he flew
last
He
stayed out
at half past three in the
at half past four
all
last,
about the place,
day, and
had not returned
afternoon
we found
and making three
out,
each one wider than the
flew away.
The survey
the antennae appeared again.
as before,
probably
until just before ten
that he
;
but on going
had gone
down
and closed
in
the door from below. It is clear, then, that
new
these males do not construct a
lodging every night, but return to the same spot to
Other wasps creep
sleep.
found them,
in the
We
into crevices.
have often
morning, in the holes of the posts of
our cottage porch; but we are glad to be able to put
down
one male that he has
to the credit of
foresight
and industry
to provide
sun warns him that evening
While punctatus was
sufficient
a sleeping-place, and
sufficient intelligence to return to the spot
clining
it
is
when
the de-
approaching.
in the height of
its
activity
we
found another species, P. ventilabris, taking bees of several genera
and
species into a
ground
nest.
carried her prey with her second pair of legs,
ever she
shy
little
left
her nest she closed the door.
thing,
and did not approve 166
She also
and whenShe was a
of our interest in
THE BURROWERS her.
At one time, being
startled
by some movement on
our part, she dropped her load and flew away. the bee
upon the
closed nest,
We placed
and when she came back
with another, she paused and looked at
it,
took in the
one she was carrying, and then returned for number
was placed on the threshold while she entered and turned around, and was then pulled in. Some wasps, one. This
notably C. ornata and our in their prey,
even
if
little
tornado, refuse to take
they have caught
excepting in a regular succession of events
more reasonable conduct
To
;
themselves,
and thus the
of ventilabris gains in interest.
the west of Milwaukee, across the valley of the
Menominee,
rises
kingdom by
itself.
little
it
a sandy hilltop which
is
a
little
insect
Ants of course abound, and the gentle
solitary bees, with their loads of pollen,
may be
seen everywhere, seeming to melt into the ground, so
quickly and quietly do they open their burrows.
Oxybelus plys her trade of
fly-catching,
Here
and graceful
Ammophila dances with her shadow over
the sunny
ground, while Cerceris rests in her doorway with an air of leisurely superiority to the vulgar cares of here,
life
;
and
one day in early July, a sudden access of energy
seemed
to strike
we had found
Aphilanthops frigidus, a wasp which
a year before taking in the wingless queens
of ants. All at once they were digging everywhere, biting
AND SOLITARY
WASPS, SOCIAL
and scratching with great energy, and soon disappearing in the depths of their
primary gallery that even in
them the
best part of a
but once finished the season. vestibule
it
day
this easy
to get
doubtless serves as a
herself,
and
difficult
;
home through
little
cup-shaped enters,
then, after she has
turned around, coming back to pull a very
takes
it
where the wasp drops the ant as she
running out of sight
is
medium
their
is
ready for storing
it
has at the entrance a
It
So deep
sandy tunnels.
it
within. This nest
one to excavate neatly, as the sand
falls
at the slightest touch.
A
day or two
after
we had
residential arrangements,
seen frigidus
we found
making her
twenty-five or thirty
within a few feet of each other, working with great ardor at carrying in queens, the doors being left closed or
according to individual ers
judgment. The
steadiest
open
work-
brought one every forty minutes, scarcely pausing
made
inside the nest, but others
ing the door closed.
body with
all
The
long stays within, leav-
ants were carried under the
the legs folded around them, but they
were heavy things, and were often dropped as the wasp flew across the
field,
giving opportunities for robbery
We
that were promptly taken advantage
of.
one of these ants and placed
doonvay of a wasp
that
had
just
gone
in.
it
in the
picked up
She came up twice, looked 168
at
it,
-A,' ;'
"
"
'
(
Wi*WSS,
.;''\i\jA^Y v
'*' ;
1
'"'"-"j'^v'
'
.'^''^^
ifesilS^^^H
THE BURROWERS and backed down again; but the third time she touched
it,
then seized
and took
it
it
half
had turned and come up
below.
When
an inch away.
for
first
From
an-
we took the ant she had
other wasp that was just entering
dropped and moved
it
she
she seemed surprised,
it,
came out and looked about, found
it
and dropped
it
in
the doorway, going in herself to turn around as before.
We
move
seized this chance to
came
found
out,
was repeated
We
it
up
took
five times,
sixth time, after
picked
it,
it
again,
and again she
back, and dropped
it
but when she took
dropping
it,
it
it.
This
in for the
she whirled around and
so quickly that our malice
was
foiled.
were puzzled by the actions of a wasp that ap-
proached her nest again and again, but always circled
away without entering, until looking closely we saw that she was pursued by two tiny flies. When she alighted and walked about awhile with her ant tucked under the third leg on one side, the
walked about behind
flies
alighted also
and
In the end she evaded them
her.
by a sudden drop into her
hole.
A
wasp now came circling along with an ant in her grasp, and settled down between two small weeds that grew about four inches apart.
She stood quiet a mo-
ment and then began to dig, but had evidently struck the
wrong
spot, for after a
moment 171
she
moved and
tried
AND SOLITARY
WASPS, SOCIAL Not
another place.
finding the entrance, she rose
and began
to scratch
For ten minutes she
persisted,
flew close under one of the plants again, but
still
in vain.
and
keeping within a few inches of the spot, and holding on to the ant all the time, although
it
was dreadfully
in her
way as she walked about. Then she dropped it and began to dig more vigorously, dividing her attention between the two spots she
had attempted
at
She seemed
first.
troubled at having to leave the ant, and often picked
up and
tried to hold
while she would take
Once
while she worked.
it
it
in a
with her, and after circling
it
about the spot would disappear, but in a few minutes she would return.
It
seemed
to us that
two
little
plants
growing near together must have been her landmarks,
and
that probably she
had been deceived by the
like-
ness that those before us bore to the ones near her nest.
Again and again she seemed
to hesitate
and think the
matter over, but gradually one of the holes absorbed her more and more. At the end of an hour she was out of sight in
she was
it,
still
and had carried her ant down, although
kicking out sand.
memory had played
her
false,
It
was evident
that her
and that she had
either
covered her hole so neatly that she could not find the spot herself, or
accommodated
had missed herself
to
the place entirely.
circumstances
172
She had
pretty
well,
THE BURROWERS although she ought to have realized earlier that
it
would
be easier to dig one nest than two.
We now tried
to excavate a nest,
we found clumps
the tunnel, although
ent levels, est
some with
ant as
and tied a thread to part
way down
great depth bitten
A
larvae feeding
as
off,
it.
it
of ants at differ-
on them. The deep-
were eighteen inches down. Hoping
we borrowed an
it
but could not follow
to secure a guide,
was dropped
The wasp
in the
doorway
in
and took
it
pulled
with this attachment
;
but before any
was reached, the thread was seemingly
we found
the free end without the ant.
second attempt brought no better
results.
So long as we were quiet the wasps did not notice but after being disturbed they
became shy and
about a good deal before entering.
Some
of the ants
were completely paralyzed, while others moved
abdomens,
legs,
and mouth
parts. All
whole place was in a
ing, the
us,
circled
their
through the morn-
bustle, but
when we came
back, after eating our luncheon in a shady spot, quiet reigned
;
the colony seemed asleep,
and although we
waited for an hour not a wasp showed herself.
The
ants that these wasps were bringing
The European genus
all
had wings.
Fertonius takes worker ants which
can be picked up anywhere; but so far as we know, these queens leave the nest only at the time of their
173
AND SOLITARY
WASPS, SOCIAL
nuptial flight, after which the wings are are they captured
much
?
Can
it
How
lost.
be that the wasps, though not
larger than their prey, descend into the
the ants, bearding the lions in their den, off their
young queens by
then
force of
home
of
and carrying
arms ? This smacks
of heroism.
Much
interested in the matter,
the ant-hills of hill
to
she had wanted to enter, but
we found some
larger
examined
admit
frigidus,
of the
supposing
down on the roadside below
doorways and
sat
down
beside
We had scarcely arrived when a frigidus appeared
on the scene, alighting have come be
carefully
the neighborhood. Those on top
had openings too small
them.
we
true,
six feet
hunting so soon
That she should
away.
seemed almost too good
but she certainly was not doing anything
She did not
dig,
nor feed on the clover, nor
circle
else.
about
as though looking for her nest, but began to clean
brush herself assiduously. blade,
and swinging
at
Then
she climbed a
tall
the top went through some
ous gymnastic performances.
Then
to
and
grass curi-
she brushed herself
again, drawing her third legs over the sides of her abdo-
men. This went on from moment
to
moment,
until half
an hour had passed, and more than once the painful suspicion crossed our minds that this
male
putting
in
the hours
174
was some
between
trifling
breakfast
and
THE BURROWERS One encouraging
luncheon.
fact cheered us
:
aimless
wasp appeared she was slowly drawing nearer and nearer to the nest; and at last, alighting on the top as the
of a
weed
attitude,
and
close by, she
and gazed
crouched there in a most peculiar
intently at the opening.
tense, she looked
about to leap upon her prey but
after a time she relaxed
sently she
came
Absorbed
close to
;
and moved about a
Pre-
little.
the entrance and seemed on the
point of going in; but the ants were swarming
up and
down, and we thought that perhaps that step required
more courage than she possessed. At any rate, she did not enter, but hung about for some minutes and then flew away.
young wasp out on her first hunt ? What strange antiphonal desires must have stirred at the sight of the nest, and how mysterious was the power that drew
Was
her to
this a
it
!
Was
there in her brain any image of the queen
she must seek and sting and carry
her guards and subjects?
Or had
away from among
she perhaps already
achieved the adventure, and did the bitter nips that little ant
task than
it
was the
knew
not of
work
reluctantly
?
first
jaws can give time,
That she
weak and needed
seemed
when she risked the ills she
hesitated to
memory of the make it a harder
show
and carried on the that her flesh
the prick of conscience to drive
it
was on.
WASPS, SOCIAL Had we
here then the small beginnings of moral sense
and perception origin
AND SOLITARY
the
is
of duty ?
Can
it
be that of such humble
power that "doth preserve the
stars
from
wrong"?
We
went on with these meditations
for several days
while lingering, with gradually diminishing hopefulness,
over one ant-hill after another. in
winged queens by the
our way widely,
met a
failed to see the capture.
and poking her head, not only
into ant holes, but into
and as we sometimes saw young queens
all sorts,
(wingless however) starting to dig their nests,
was cold and windy, most unpropitious frigidus
we began
was working
for
to feel sure that she could not
Just as this point
nest,
we
he
felt
swarming,
depend upon
but must enter to
received a letter from
Mr. William M. Wheeler, well known ants, saying that
we thought
The weather
as briskly as ever; so that
meeting the queens outside the get them.
we
on the ground
these might be the object of the search.
and yet
come
Occasionally
frigidus hunting, running about
holes of
carrying
score, but they did not
them; and although we ranged about
to find
we
The wasps were
as
an authority on
very sure that the wasp could
not extract the queens from the nest, but must find them
running on the ground, just after the nuptial
flight,
before they dug their holes and started their colonies.
176
THE BURROWERS Respecting
this opinion,
we caught a wasp hill,
inverted
it
but
still
feeling unconvinced,
and carrying it to an antso that she was confined just over the in a glass,
up and down for a moment, she and walked alighted calmly into the hole but a fraction
entrance. After buzzing
;
of a second later she
came rushing madly out
again,
pursued by the most furious lot of ants that ever defended the
home
city against invasion.
Down
tumbled
our air castles about courage and duty, for however frigidus gets her queens,
it is
not in that way.
We
have
not yet seen the meeting and the capture, but hope that
sometime we may be lucky enough spot at the right time.
to
be on the right
Chapter VIII THE WOOD-BORERS
OUR
two species of Trypoxylon are both slender-
waisted black wasps, albopilosum having bunches
of
snowy white
hairs
three quarters of is
a
little
on the
an inch
first legs,
and measuring rubrocinctum
in length, while
smaller, and, as the
name
implies, wears a red
girdle.
Although these wasps are called wood-borers, they will use
went out 1895,
convenient cavities in any material. to
our
summer cottage,
we found many
little
in the last
wasps
When we
days of June,
of the species
Trypo-
xylon rubrocinctum busily working about a brick smoke-
house on the place. Closer examination showed that in the mortar between the bricks were
many
little
openings
leading back for a considerable distance, which were
occupied by the wasps.
It
would seem that these holes
were excavated by some other agency than the wasps themselves, as they were so
much
too deep for their pur-
poses that before using them they built a
178
mud
partition
THE WOOD-BORERS across the opening about an inch from the outside of the
Later we found nests of the same species in the
wall.
posts which support
and
here, too, the
an upper balcony of the cottage;
wasps made use of holes which were
already excavated.
In the following summer we found large numbers of these
wasps
been cut
at
work
off perfectly
The
in a straw-stack.
smooth on one
stack had
side, so that
many
thousands of the cut ends of the straws were exposed
and these proved very
to view,
tum. This species
we found
it
very cosmopolitan in
its tastes,
for
utilizing the small holes in the sticks of
The
a woodpile.
is
attractive to rubrocinc-
places, however,
straws
made
the daintiest nesting-
and were well adapted
since they could be
drawn out
to
our purposes,
of the stack
and
split
lengthwise so that the contents could be easily studied.
The two
halves could then be brought together again
without injuring the inhabitants, and thus
we
often
kept several sets under observation long enough to
watch the changes from the egg Trypoxylon in posts
and
to the
pupa.
albopilosum nesting in holes trees,
but never in straws.
We
found
made by beetles
A
third species,
bidentatum, was very common, nesting in the stems of plants.
During the month
of
August we saw many
individuals of this species hunting for spiders on the
179
AND SOLITARY
WASPS, SOCIAL blackberry bushes
;
but at this time
we were
so
much
absorbed in Crabro stirpicola that we never followed
them
to their
homes.
Rubrocinctum was more conveniently
studied,
and
through July and August we watched the comings
and goings
of these
little
They were
wasps.
very good-
tempered, never resenting our close proximity nor our interference with their housekeeping.
they could prepare a nest, store it
up
all in
the
it
By working hard
with spiders, and seal
same day. This we have seen them do in In other cases the same operation
several instances.
takes three or four days. In the second
summer
that
we
worked with them we found one very energetic mother that stored four nests in one day. It had rained hard on the twenty-sixth of July, and no wasp works weather.
On
took a straw just as the spider.
We
in such
the afternoon of the twenty- seventh
opened
it
little
mother was bringing
and found
we in a
that the innermost cell
contained eight Epeirids, with an egg on the abdomen of the last one taken in
;
the second cell
was provisioned
with ten spiders, with the egg on the seventh, so that
had been brought in after it was laid; the third had the egg on the last spider, as did also the fourth.
three cell
All of these eggs hatched
on the twenty-ninth,
outer ones, that were laid
last, 1
80
the
two
between eight and nine
THE WOOD-BORERS o'clock in the morning,
and the two
that were laid earlier
between two and three in the afternoon. biggest day's hunting that
we have
This was the
ever recorded for any
of our wasps.
With both sum), when
and T.
species (T. rubrocinctum
the preliminary
and erecting the inner
little
Here he stands on guard until the nest
is
up
his station inside the cell,
head
just filling the opening.
for the greater part of the time
provisioned and sealed up, occasionally
varying the monotony of his task by a short
a usual thing
who less
albopilo-
of clearing the nest
partition has been performed by
the female, the male takes
facing outward, his
work
the
all
work
is
flight.
As
performed by the female,
applies herself to her duties with greater or with
industry according to her individual character
;
but
the male doubtless discharges an important office in
protecting the nest from parasites.
him
seen
which
is
drive
On
nest.
on with great
distance into the
unmated males nests,
have frequently
the brilliant green Chrysis
fly,
always waiting about for a chance to enter an
unguarded ried
away
We
these occasions the defense
vigor, the fly being air.
is
car-
pursued for some
There are usually two or three
flying about in the neighborhood of the
poking their heads into unused
sionally trying to enter
one that 181
is
holes,
and occa-
occupied, but never,
WASPS, SOCIAL so far as
we have
AND SOLITARY
seen, with
any success, the male
charge being always quite ready and able
The
of his rights.
males, however,
when strange females
in
to take care
made no
objection
entered the nest, as they sometimes
did by mistake, nor did the females object to the entrance of a strange male
when
be away but
the one belonging to the
such cases the rightful happened owner, on his return, quickly ejected the intruder. We often amused ourselves, while we were watching the nest
to
nests,
;
by approaching the
in
little
doorway, with a blade of grass.
male, as he stood in his
He
always attacked
it
valiantly, and sometimes grasped it so tightly in his mandibles that he could be drawn out of the nest with it.
When male
the female returns to the nest with a spider the
flies
out to
make way for her, and then as she goes in
he alights on her back and enters with
comes out again she brings him with reenters, in,
and
then, after a
so that he faces
her.
When
she
her, but he at once
moment, comes out and backs
outward as before.
In one instance, with rubrocinctum, where the work of storing the nest
we saw
had been delayed by rainy weather,
the male assisting by taking the spiders from
the nest, leaving her free
them and packing them into to hunt for more. This was an
especially attentive
fellow, as
the female as she brought
little
182
he guarded the nest
THE WOOD-BORERS almost continuously for four days, the female sometimes being gone for hours at a time.
On the
last
revisited the nest three or four times after
day he even it
had been
sealed up. It is
work
the female that the heaviest part of the
upon
devolves.
As soon
as she has put the nest in order
she begins the arduous task of catching spiders where-
with to store
it.
It
usually takes her from ten to twenty
minutes to find a spider and bring
it
home, but she
When
sometimes absent for a much longer time.
is
the
spider has been carried to the nest the process of pack-
ing
in begins.
it
ently a
This occupies some time, and appar-
good deal of strength,
- -
the female pushing
into place with her head, totally disregarding its fort, all
jammed
the spiders that are caught being pressed
together into a compact mass.
it
com-
and
While she
is
way she makes a loud cheerful humming The number of spiders brought seems to depend
busied in this noise.
upon
their size, in
which quality they vary
greatly, the
largest ones being six or eight times as large as the smallest.
Rubrocinctum
fills
her nest with from seven to four-
teen, while the larger
albopilosum brings as
twenty-five or thirty.
Those
sented lies,
many
different genera,
that
we examined
and even
as
repre-
different fami-
although they were usually orb- weavers. 183
many
AND SOLITARY
WASPS, SOCIAL
In a number of cases, during the several spiders
had been
we
drew them
gently
were
alive
which the wasp had
and two were dead. In anjust
begun
to seal up,
ten spiders. Three of these were injured in being
Of
out.
On
were
drawn
the remainder four were alive and three dead.
the anterior part of the
was the
spiders
after
found, two hours after they had been
stored, that three
other,
we
summer,
In one nest in which there were
out with a bent wire. five spiders,
stored,
first
egg.
It
dorsum
of one of the living
had probably been
the female carried the male into the nest
When we discovered
fertilized as
on her back.
rubrocinctum in the straw-stack,
we made many observations as to egg and the number and condition
the position of the of the spiders.
We
found that the egg was always placed either on the side
The
or the back of the anterior part of the abdomen.
number
of spiders stored was, as
from seven
to fourteen.
A
we have
already stated,
fact that interested us greatly
was the remarkable accuracy shown by the wasp
in
never selecting too large a spider for the calibre of the straw.
Oftentimes
it
was an extremely
could always be squeezed down. posts they used at times
nately
could
we never saw we
prevail
much
When
close
fit,
but
they nested in
larger prey.
Unfortu-
this species capture its prey,
upon
it
it
nor
to sting in captivity, but the
184
THE WOOD-BORERS number
we found
of spiders that
as to afford
was
so large
abundant evidence concerning the degree
of surgical skill possessed
and P.
in straws
scelestus,
overpowering their large
in
Lycosids, must sting
by the wasps. P. marginatus fierce
when and where they can, but
most of the spiders taken by rubrocinctum are inoffensive creatures,
and there
is
so
little
need
to
be careful
TRYPOXYLON RUBROCINCTUM
or adroit in dealing with them that she has time and
opportunity to sting the exact spot that will give the best results.
The concentration of
the nervous system in the Arach-
nida would seem to conduce very strongly to uniform results
from the stinging of the wasps. 185
Unlike the larva
AND SOLITARY
WASPS, SOCIAL used by Ammophila, with
its
chain of ganglia, in the
Araneidae the whole central nervous system, including the brain
and the ventral
cord, forms a single mass,
The greater part of this mass,
pierced by the oesophagus.
which
lies
behind the oesophagus, represents the fused
ventral cord from which the nerves radiate. It that a thrust given in almost
any part of the ventral face on either side of the an-
of the cephalothorax, or even terior half of
With
its
edges,
would reach the nervous
these facts before us
let
we mean
naturally the July ii.
first
centre.
us turn to the notes
upon the condition of the spiders and stored up in the nests of the "first cell"
evident
is
that
made
had been stung
straw-stack.
By
the last one stored, which
the
was
one opened.
Opened
a nest of rubrocinctum.
The
first cell
contained fourteen live spiders with a newly laid egg.
Some of
the spiders were very lively,
Second
cell,
egg.
Third
moving spontaneously.
ten spiders, one dead, others alive, and an cell,
eight spiders, three dead and five alive,
and the egg. July 12. In each of the
first
and second
cells
one spider
has died since yesterday, while in the third there is no change in their condition. The egg in the third cell hatched at nine in the
morning, and the one in the second
cell at
three in the afternoon.
July 13. In the
first cell all 1
the spiders are dead but one,
86
THE WOOD-BORERS and
in the
second,
but four, while in the third none are
all
alive.
July
July
15. 1
6.
All the spiders in the second cell are dead.
The one
spider in the
has outlived
first cell
all
the others, but that, too, died to-day.
The
record of another set of nests
July eighth in with
is
as follows:
On
we took a straw with a wasp as she went The cell was not sealed up. It
her spider.
contained fourteen specimens of three species of orb-
The
weavers, and the egg was apparently just laid. spiders were
abdomens were, were limp, but
in
cases, bent to
many
alive.
By
one
legs
and
side.
All
July tenth, four were dead
on July eleventh the egg hatched. all
and the
in very tightly,
pushed
By
;
July thirteenth
of the spiders were dead. It is
unnecessary to give the history of other nests in
detail, since these facts
make
it
clear that there
a great
is
variation in the degree of severity with which the spiders are stung, so that while with plete, with others
it
is
some the
only partial.
paralysis
is
Some were
outright, others lived two or three days, while
still
comkilled
others
Compared with the work of would seem that a smaller number of the
survived for two weeks. the Pelopaei
it
spiders are killed at once, while a larger after the lapse of a few days.
187
None
number
die
of the victims of
AND SOLITARY
WASPS, SOCIAL Trypoxylon
live so
long as the most perfectly paralyzed
spiders of the mud-daubers. fifteen
Two of them
lived ten
and
days respectively, while with Pelopaeus one sur-
vived until the thirty-eighth and one until the fortieth day.
The egg
requires from forty to sixty hours for
its
de-
velopment, and the larva feeds for seven or eight days Those that we watched before spinning its cocoon. usually disposed
cephalo thorax
;
first
of the
abdomen and then
of the
sometimes they would consume several
abdomens before attacking the other parts. After the body was devoured the legs were picked up and eaten.
When
was generous, portions
the supply of food
spiders were sometimes
left
untouched.
of the
The cocoons
resembled in general appearance and structure those of Pelopaeus.
When
a female returns with her load she usually
hunts about for a few moments before finding her nest,
sometimes entering,
first,
two or three that are empty
or are occupied by other wasps cast
any
ture that
reflection is
upon
;
but
we do
not wish to
the sense of locality of a crea-
able to find one particular straw out of the
an expanse of stack twenty feet high by twelve wide. We ourselves can testify, from
many thousands
in
experience, to the extreme difficulty of the task.
188
THE WOOD-BORERS After the storing process seals
is
up the nest with mud.
completed the female
In the case of one rubro-
cinctum that we were watching, she began
to close the
opening at four in the afternoon and finished her work minutes
just thirty
In
later.
journeys for mud, bringing
it
this
made
time she
ten
in pellets in her mandibles.
In another case, also a rubrocinctum, the female, after spiders that the cell
was
very door (which
we saw
case),
without closing
and never returned. The male seemed
bringing so
uneasy
at
many
it,
in
no other
to the
up
went away
her conduct, and several times flew away,
staying an hour or two
and then returning
time he too deserted the nest.
on her
;
but after a
Whether some
overtook the female or whether there of instinct
full
evil fate
was some
failure
part, can only be conjectured; but the
latter hypothesis is not untenable, since out of seventysix nests that
we had under observation seven were
cleaned out and prepared and were then sealed up
empty.
We
have often found similar cases among the
nests of the blue
very
uncommon
mud-dauber wasps, where thing for the
build their pretty
little
it
is
not a
absent-minded females to
cylindrical nests with infinite
care and patience, and then to seal
them up without put-
ting anything inside.
Cocoons of rubrocinctum that were gathered 189
in the
AND SOLITARY
WASPS, SOCIAL month in
of
May
August remained over the winter and hatched
and June.
Almost as interesting as rubrocinctum larger species, T. albopilosum.
is
the slightly
This wasp has a great
liking for the posts that support the balcony of our cottage, a preference that
enables us to
sit
is
very convenient for us, as
shade and watch their doings
in the
it
at
our ease.
One
afternoon as
we
sat, literally, at
our posts, a
fe-
male of albopilosum came humming along, looking very important and energetic, as though she had planned
beforehand exactly what hole,
head
kicking
first,
and
at
to do.
She entered an empty
once began to gnaw
at the
wood,
out backwards with considerable violence.
it
After a few minutes she changed her method of work,
and began bles,
to carry out loads of
dropping
it
in little
way, upwards of
awav, but returned *
*
dust in her mandi-
showers just outside the
and then hastening back. In out, in this
wood
in ten
nest,
forty minutes she carried fifty loads.
She then flew
minutes with a male.
She
alighted, he took his place on her back, and they went
in
together.
After a time they
next morning they
In
came out and both flew away, but
came back and
this species the
the nest
was
the
stored.
male does not always come out of 190
C L -"
.. -
,v-i,
.,
.
M
--
-
.
,),,',-"";'
.
/-''''/'
,
.,"
..
.
,
.-,,
-^.
^
;,(>-
:*-
MALE TRYPOXVLON AWAITING THE FEMALE
;.,
/;.
THE WOOD-BORERS the nest
when
the female brings a spider, the nest being
enough larger than
in
rubrocinctum
them both comfortably. As a usual enters
to
accommodate
thing, however, he
on the back of the female. The spiders brought
by albopilosum are larger than those used by rubrocinctum.
They sometimes bring such heavy specimens
Epeira insularis that they are carried with the
of
difficulty,
wasp alighting and dragging the spider
into the
hole instead of flying directly in as usual.
We
watched a number of albopilosum nests during
the second
summer, finding them
through the loud
humming
in several instances
of the female while she
From our
pushing the spiders into her hole.
not very
extensive study of the spiders taken by this species are of the opinion that
some are
killed at the
was
we
moment
of capture, while others that are only paralyzed die in
the nest from day to day.
Mr. W. H. Ashmead has noted stores
its
that albopilosum
nest with aphides, but in the cases that
we
observed they used only spiders. There can be no mistake on this point, as
we more than once took
from the wasp as she was entering the letter
Mr. Ashmead says
field,
and
nest.
that his notes were
that he probably mistook
species for this one.
193
some
the spider
In a recent
made
in the
closely allied
AND SOLITARY
WASPS, SOCIAL
We tum
are not as familiar with the habits of T. bidenta-
as with those of the other two, but
This
notes relating to the female. smallest of the three,
we had
The wasp
her
like
little
seized the spider, as
rested
it
abdomen under and stabbed
cephalothorax.
up by a
leg
and
the
it
leaf,
by the
firmly, curved
the ventral face of the
know
filled
moment
We
flying off.
stems which had been but we do not
on a
and
All her motions were deliberate,
after the operation she delayed a it
is
confirmed
the good fortune to witness a capture.
top of the cephalothorax, and, holding
her
worker
sisters is a
Once, when out among the raspberry
spider-hunter.
bushes,
and
we have a few
before picking
often found raspberry
with spiders by this wasp,
the length of time required for the
development of the egg, nor how long the larva eats before pupation.
The cocoon
is
very different in appear-
ance from those of rubrocinctum and albopilosum, being exceedingly long, slender,
and almost white, instead
of short, wide, and brown.
The
perfect insects
out in September, and the last cocoon formed
one to hatch.
is
come
the
first
This was also true of the cocoons of
rubrocinctum formed in straws.
Years ago, when we found that
many
of the orb-
weavers laid enormous numbers of eggs (A. cophinaria
from 500
to 2000),
we wondered what became 194
of the
THE WOOD-BORERS An
thousands of spiderlings.
and has given us an illusthe two groups are related. To
xylon has shown us their tration of
how
closely
acquaintance with Trypo-
fate,
make a very modest estimate there must have been twenty wasps
at
work
in
our straw-stack. During the
which make the busiest part of
weeks
working season
their
each of these must have stored, at the very cells,
six
putting an average of ten spiders into a
least, thirty It
cell.
may
then be considered certain that the straw-stack, with
working surface of twelve by twenty
leum
of six
twice as
thousand spiders, and
many were
be remembered, large
enough
to
feet,
it is
interred within
its
was the mauso-
very probable that
its
depths.
too, that before the spiders
It
must
have grown
be interesting to rubrocinctum, biden-
tatum has had her turn
at
them, and that those that are
allowed to grow too large for rubrocinctum are preyed
upon grade
after grade, first
by albopilosum and
finally
by Pelopaeus, Pompilus, and other genera.
The wasps affairs
this
of this genus lose their interest in family
about the second week in August, though after
time they
may
still
be seen taking their well-earned
holiday on the blossoms of the aster and the golden-rod.
Chapter
IX
THE SPIDER-HUNTERS Ammophila
WHILE
larva,
and Bembex,
social wasps, feeds her flies,
all
provides caterpillars for her
manner
after the
young from day
to
prey upon spiders.
family
the
day on dead
the Pompilidae, so far as their habits are
The
of
known,
a large one in the
is
United States, one hundred and twenty-seven species having been described. in size, color,
species
show
which seems
and
The members
habits,
and the individuals
the very considerable
common
of the group differ
amount
to all those
of the
same
of variation
groups of animals
which have been carefully studied.
Happily the old
notion that habits and instincts, unlike structural peculiarities,
are
upon, and there
always uniform, is
ample evidence
functional variations are as
We
have studied
no longer
is
for the opinion that
common
to
as morphological.
five species of this family,
found their respective roles of great According
insisted
and have
interest.
Fabre, the French members of this 196
THE SPIDER-HUNTERS genus, although they do not exercise
some
make
their
own
foresight in the matter
by
suitable crevice before catching their prey.
species that
we have
nests,
still
selecting a
Among
the
studied, quinquenotatus, biguttatus,
TORNADO WASP (POMPILUS QUINQUENOTATUS) DIGGING NEST
fuscipennis, marginatus,
spider and then
make
and interruptus
the nest;
first
catch the
while calipterus and
scelestus prepare the nest before capturing their prey.
Quinquenotatus
is
inch in length and variable
number
usually rather less than half an is
black, the
of white
abdomen having a
bands and a white 197
tip.
WASPS, SOLITARY It
was on the
last
through the bean
day of July that, as we were walking
field,
came spurting up out
By watching
tain.
AND SOCIAL
we saw a cloud
of the
intently
of fine dust
which
water in a foun-
ground
like
we saw
that the cause of the
commotion was the rapid action of the legs of some little creature that was almost hidden in the earth, and this
proved
to
be our
first
example of P. quinqueno-
tatus.
She was working away as furiously as though she had studied the poets and
knew her
carpe diem by heart.
Faster and faster went the slender
and higher rose the
obstacle.
legs; higher
Then
sud-
The burrower had met
with
jet of dust above her.
denly there was a pause.
some
little
A moment
more and she came backing
out of the hole, her feet slipping on
its
crumbling edges.
In her mandibles she carried a pebble, which was taken to a distance of four or five inches.
quickly, she swept
away
the dust that
Then, moving
had accumulated
near the mouth of the nest, reentered the hole, and
sumed
We
re-
the labor of excavation.
thought that the rate at which she worked was
up very long; and sure enough, before ten minutes had passed the nest was deep enough too violent to be kept
for her purposes, grin, that
it
was
and we afterward learned,
too deep for ours.
to
our cha-
The wasp came
out,
THE SPIDER-HUNTERS round the spot three or four times, and then flew
circled
fiery, title
Never have we seen a creature so
a hurricane.
off like
tempestuous, cyclonic. Before
we took
we knew her proper
to calling her
the tornado wasp, and by that
name we
shall
always
think of her.
Her
flight
was too rapid minute
to follow, but in a
we saw her
She
returning.
was carrying a good sized -
a
spider,
of
specimen ,
.
POMPILUS QUINQUENOTATUS
,
Epeira stnx, which she had evidently deposited
somewhere
in
the
neighborhood
Alighting near by, she
before beginning to dig.
left
the
spider lying on the ground, while she ran to her nest and
kicked out a leg,
nest.
little
she dragged
more
it,
earth.
Then
seizing
it
by one
going backward herself, into the
She remained hidden for about two minutes,
then reappeared, and, seeming to be in as great a
hurry as ever, the spot
and render
of the field
rushed,
filled
it
them above the
nest,
disguise
indistinguishable from the
was her next
now bringing
To
the hole with dirt.
care.
little
Hither and thither she
pellets of earth
now sweeping away 199
rest
and placing
the loose dust
AND SOLITARY
WASPS, SOCIAL
which might suggest the presence of the cache, and
now
tugging frantically at a stone which she wanted to
place over the hidden treasure, but which
embedded
was too deeply She did
in the earth to yield to her efforts.
her work faithfully, although with such eager haste that all
was completed
the time that
it
end of twenty minutes from
we saw her first. So
was only by
certain of
Her
at the
its
well
was the place hidden
careful orientation that
we could be
exact locality.
task accomplished,
away
flew our
little
tornado
as though she were pursued by the avenging spirits of all
the spiders that she
probably she was
and
off in
had murdered, although more quest of another of those
meek
helpless victims.
"Now," we said, "we make a drawing of it. We note
its
will trace out the nest will take the spider
home and
condition from day to day, watching at
same time the development Enjoying
and
the
of the larva."
this little air-castle,
we began
to excavate.
Having had experience with the nests of Ammophila and Diodontus, and knowing that the task might not be so easy as care.
It
it
looked,
we went
to
work with all
possible
seemed, however, that some magician's trick
some deception of the senses - had been played upon us. We saw the spider interred we at once dug -
;
200
THE SPIDER-HUNTERS Slowly and carefully
up the place and found nothing.
we enlarged our the opening -
all
still
was
large
the earth that
our hands
-
went down deeper
tried another plan.
At
out,
last
until
thousand spiders,
to hold a
we had taken
in vain.
we
sifted
Gathering it
through
we acknowledged
our-
and trudged home empty-handed.
selves beaten,
Our
enough
Then we
nothing.
-
We
circle.
pride was destined to be
still
further humbled.
Three times within that same week we saw the tornado
wasp bury her
spider,
incredibly, to find
did not
let
tunnel and laid,
her
On
it.
fill
and three times we
failed, just as
the last of these occasions
we
the nest, attempting to follow the
get out the spider as soon as the egg
but the loose, unstable character of the
was
soil de-
feated us.
Our
fifth
example, however, dug her nest, not
the beans but lower
down
ground was firmer
and here we made our
ful excavation,
-
-
;
in the potato field,
successful only
since in getting out the spider
and although
The
it
was
at
up
we
once replaced
among
where the
first
success-
to a certain point,
dislodged the egg, it
never developed.
was placed three inches below the surface, but we could not trace the tunnel. At our next opporspider
tunity,
wishing to
make good
this failure,
we placed
a
blade of grass in the opening just after the wasp began 201
AND SOLITARY
WASPS, SOCIAL to
fill
On
it.
being disturbed she assumed the most
comically threatening aspect, whirling around, lifting her
wings, and then circling about us.
As soon
as
we moved
back she dashed
at the grass-blade
with great energy.
A few minutes later we made a similar
and pulled
attempt, and again she frustrated our plan
but
;
it
out
when we
inserted the grass-blade for the third time, the nest being
now
half
filled,
she
let
with this to guide us,
but
much
to
remain.
it
we succeeded
Some hours
our disappointment found
into a banqueting hall.
They had
and were rapidly finishing the spider. Twice afterward, in opening these
same ants
Pompilus
;
transformed
enemy
eaten the egg
we found
nests,
in possession before us.
that they are a formidable
species of
it
Scores of tiny red ants had dis-
covered this rich store of food.
the
later,
in tracing the nest,
It is
to this
probable
and other
but they seem to find the spider
by burrowing beneath the surface, so that the elaborate hiding of the nest from above cannot be meant as a pro-
from them.
tection
Pompilus quinquenotatus has a decided preference as to the spider that she takes.
While Pelopaeus and Try-
poxylon are entirely indifferent both as species,
natus
and the more nearly
takes
Thomisus,
related
Drassus,
202
to
size
and
Pompilus margi-
Attus,
Agalena or
THE SPIDER-HUNTERS Lycosa, this more fastidious wasp will not be tempted
from the spider of her choice. amples the victim strix.
made so
If she
in the play
must confine
In more than
was invariably Epeira
herself to
one species she has
a fortunate selection, since there
common
fifty ex-
is
no other spider
in our neighborhood, not only in the
woods,
EXAMPLE OF EPEIRA STRIX THAT HAS BEEN PARALYZED AND HUNG UP ON BEAN PLANT BY POMPILUS QUINQUENOTATUS, THAT IT MAY BE OUT OF THE WAY OF ANTS WHILE SHE DIGS HER NEST
but around the barns and outbuildings. Most frequently it
was the female that was taken, but
this
does not im-
ply a preference for that sex, since the females are
203
more
AND SOLITARY
WASPS, SOCIAL
We
abundant than the males.
have never seen the
spider captured and do not know where the
sting
is
given, but certainly this wasp wounds her prey very
The
severely.
spiders that
we took from her were
dead, or so completely paralyzed that
it
either
required great
care and the use of a magnifying glass to determine that they were alive.
The
we have
with, as
Unlike her
with
and seems not
marginatus, she usually
at all
encumbered by it,
its
holding
it
flies
weight.
by one
and running rapidly backward.
A
suitable place for the nest being found, the spider
very prettily taken care of while the work
A plant,
gress.
the strix it
sister,
cases, however, she drags
many
leg
is
it,
are familiar
frequently seen the wasp carry the
spider.
In
we
next stage of her proceedings
will
is
usually a bean or a sorrel,
is
is
in pro-
chosen, and
hung in the crotch of a branching stem, where
be safe from the depredations of ants. This pre-
caution
is
the spider
not always taken. left
We
have many times seen
on the ground, although there were plenty
of plants at hand.
The
next point
for the nest,
certain settle
is
to decide
upon the
and here our wasp shows
and hard
to please.
herself very un-
Never have we seen one
down and complete her work 204
precise spot
in the spot first
THE SPIDER-HUNTERS chosen.
She dashes
away with
at
a place and scratches and digs
furious energy for a few minutes,
starting up, she darts wildly hither
new
place, near by,
to is
and
thither until a
upon and another beginning
In one instance eight nests were started and
made.
some
is
fixed
and then,
of
them nearly
finished, the little
worker seeming
be beside herself with excitement. After the decision finally
case
it
made
the tunneling
is
a rapid process. In one
took the wasp a whole hour to complete the work,
but out of the thirty nests that
were finished
in
from twenty
we saw made,
nineteen
to twenty-five minutes.
Like Fabre's Sphex the wasp interrupts herself three or four times to visit her spider and safe.
When
all
is
make
done she brings the
sure that
strix to
it is
within
a foot or two of the opening, runs to the nest to take a final look,
and then, going backward
herself, pulls
it
inside.
In two instances we saw the fidgety
little
creature
go through a most comical performance, which again recalls the
Sphex of Fabre.
Leaving her treasure on
the ground, she ran to the nest
and kicked out a
more earth; hastening back she dragged nearer
;
digging,
it
little
an inch
then away she went to the nest again for more
and
so on, dropping her spider half a dozen
times before she at
last
brought 205
it
home. In two other
WASPS, SOCIAL
AND SOLITARY
was no such anxiety about the there was, in reality, more reason for it.
cases in which there size of the nest,
Indeed, in one instance the opening had to be enlarged before the spider could be taken
winged parasitic
fly that,
prodigious numbers
to
is
any particular
it
an opening, dips down twice or
each time,
may
in,
nest,
chance to see
comes
it
thrice, ovipositing
and then passes along. The habit
of scratch-
at the threshold, just before the prey
little dirt
brought
a wide-
is
else to do, lays
hovers about over the ground until
It
ing out a
There
having nothing
of eggs, not in
but at the edge of holes wherever
them.
in.
seemingly from a desire to enlarge the
nest, or in other cases
from mere nervousness,
is
per-
haps of use in destroying these eggs, which might otherwise adhere to the spider or caterpillar as
it is
dragged
over them.
The
laying of the egg takes only two or three minutes,
and then the hole
is filled
up.
In
this part of
her work
quinquenotatus shows a great deal of variation, sometimes coming out of the hole and sweeping in the dirt
with her
first legs
and sometimes standing
in the tunnel
while she draws the earth in with her mandibles and
with the end of her abdomen.
The
former plan was in vogue in the garden, while the
latter
was more common with the wasps on the
After
then jams
it
down
206
island.
THE SPIDER-HUNTERS the hole
the spot
is filled
is
covered with pellets of earth
and pebbles brought from a as is done by Ammophila.
When we found mon species, and of
its
that nearly every
that
stinging habits in our
be easier than to carry a
strix
was a very com-
day brought us a
we had
own
much
distance, very
that quinquenotatus
we thought
fresh example,
little
the question
What
hands.
could
about with us and to ex-
when opportunity offered, for the paralyzed wasp? The good results obtained by Fabre and Marchal from this manoeuvre made us conchange
it,
spider of the
We did not doubt that when the wasp
fident of success.
came
for her spider
to be, she
and found
it
livelier
than
it
ought
would repeat the stinging operation before
our eyes. Accordingly, the next time that tus digging
we made
and soon found as
we
it
discovered
and carried
it
she
up
hung
it
to
a diligent search for her spider,
on a bean plant it,
we saw quinquenotafive feet
away.
Just
however, the wasp swooped
down
some
purslain, close to the hole,
again, while she went to
preparations at the nest.
We
where
make her
seized our chance,
final
and
quickly substituted a fresh strix for the one that had
been paralyzed.
when danger
According
threatens,
it
to the habit of its species
kept perfectly quiet, and 207
when
AND SOLITARY
WASPS, SOCIAL the
wasp returned
was hanging there
it
How she knew
as a piece of dead matter.
as motionless
the difference
was a mystery, but she would not touch it. She seemed to think that she had made a mistake in the locality and that her own spider must be hanging somewhere hunted
close by, for she
all
over several others near to
over that plant and then
it,
returning continually to
look again in the right spot. After five minutes she gave it
up, circled about three or four times, and flew off in
the direction of the
woods
to catch another spider.
did she go to the woods?
Why
that the strix she
When
had stung was gone and
she realized
must
that she
have another, why did she not take the one that hung
Our
there in plain view?
due
to the fact that
when on
we had handled
other occasions
paralyzed, examined
she accepted
it
failure could not
it
have been
the spider, since,
we took one
that
and then returned
it
had been
to the
wasp,
without hesitation.
Disappointed though we were at the irrational conduct of our wasp, to try again.
we
resolved to await her return and
In forty minutes she came back with an-
other spider, but instead of taking
hung
into the nest she
upon a bean plant near by and then proceeded
it
to dig
it
a
Foolish
new little
hole a few inches distant from the
wasp, what a waste of labor 208
!
first.
Truly,
if
THE SPIDER-HUNTERS you are endowed with energy beyond your fellows you are but meagrely furnished with reason.
Again we availed ourselves of our opportunity, and substituted our spider for hers. This time it had grown weary of playing
its
motionless
role,
and frequent read-
justments were necessary in order to keep
At the moment that the wasp came back
it
in position.
to take
it,
the
place and began to make its way along the stem. The wasp evidently saw it, for she hovered over it a moment. She then flew to the next spider scrambled from
plant,
its
where she hunted about over the leaves and lost treasure.
After a time
had now come
to a standstill,
branches in search of her
The
she returned.
spider
and the wasp examined touching
attentively, although without
it
She then flew away without
it.
circling at
all,
which might, perhaps, be taken as an indication that she had no intention of returning to a place where she
had fared
so badly.
Just at this
moment we chanced
lyzed strix hanging near by.
to see another para-
Again the exchange of
our specimen was accomplished; but when the second
wasp came
to find her spider she
faction than the
enough.
We
first.
The
gave us no more
substitute
hung
satis-
there quietly
ourselves could not have distinguished
it
from the original, but quinquenotatus took a good look 209
AND SOLITARY
WASPS, SOCIAL at
a
decided that something was wrong, hunted about
it,
for her
little
We
had
own
spider,
and then flew away.
then, as the fruit of our morning's work,
gained nothing in regard to a knowledge of the stinging
we had secured
habits of our wasp, but at least freshly paralyzed spiders to
As
lection.
in
add
to
had
to the strix that
our experiments, we placed
our laboratory
col-
so kindly assisted us
on a bush
it
three
in the plea-
santest and most secluded corner of the garden and it
there, wishing
it
a long and happy
left
life.
Later on in the season we tried the same experiment.
Taking her spider from quinquenotatus as she was it
dragging in
its
place.
away. to
to her nest,
we
offered her a very lively strix
She would not notice
Half an hour
we
on the ground
was
left
up
its
w hen r
and seemed
legs
she
This one behaved ad-
and keeping
felt
it
of
it
perfectly
and turned
it
still,
over,
without any display of interest or emotion.
One day we saw go after her spider.
when an
and soon flew
As she ran about on
dig.
in front of her.
not moving even it
all,
offered her another spider, dropping
mirably, drawing
but
at
later she reappeared,
be looking for a place to
the ground
it
a quinquenotatus finish her nest and
She was absent
for
some
time,
and
ant passed by, dragging a paralyzed strix that
had evidently been
stolen
from some wasp, we thought 210
THE SPIDER-HUNTERS we were watching had been robbed, and
that the one
rescuing the spider, placed
We
nest.
had judged wrongly,
spider,
way
one side of the
blocked, and dug out a
strix.
the ground not far
Then
later
our
and dropping
She was disturbed
near by, ran to look at her nest.
at finding the
to
moment
for a
wasp came back bringing her own it
doorway of the
in the
it
little
earth
she flew to some holes in
away and dug a
little, first
in
one and
then in the other. After this she took a look at her spider,
and then went back and dug a
dragged it,
more
at her
own
Finally she seized the impeding strix by a leg,
nest.
to
little
it
way and paid no further attention her own spider and departing, although
out of the
storing
the one she
had
rejected might have saved a hunting
expedition.
At another time we saw two wasps digging two or three other,
feet apart.
and being unable
One
of
them
to find her
their nests
finished before the
own
spider (probably
had been carried away by the ants), she seized that of her neighbor and bore it away. The rightful owner
it
saw from a distance what was happening, and ran the rescue. clinching
A
and
violent
again.
and over
rolling over
ber escaped and
to
scrimmage ensued, the two wasps
made
off,
together.
The
rob-
but was followed and caught
She fought so well for her 211
ill-gotten treasure,
AND SOLITARY
WASPS, SOCIAL
however, that she finally conquered the other and hurried off with her prize.
she
felt
She showed by her manner that
the need of haste, for instead of laying the spider
down and
looking at the nest, she dragged
it
directly in,
as though she feared another attack. This was the
we had
time that
first
ever seen these wasps fighting over
and we were surprised to find that they would take spiders which they had not captured themselves,
their prey,
since
when we had
tried to
refused to carry out intelligent act,
exchange with them they had
our scheme.
and could not be an
Once again we witnessed a these
affair of instinct.
similar struggle.
wasps was laboriously dragging her
steep hillside, cies
This was clearly an
when a much
bigger one of
it
up a the same spe-
up, and they both pulled until
as though the poor creature
The highway robber came
of
strix
She was
descended upon her and seized the spider.
loath to give
One
it
seemed
would be dismembered.
and
after flying
to a distance
finished a
partly
hung the spider up while she made nest, and then stored it away.
It
off victorious,
may be
said in extenuation of her conduct that since she
had a
had probably been robbed herself, and that she was entitled to a spider.
nest started she
therefore
The
felt
nests of quinquenotatus vary considerably ac-
cording to the kind of
soil in
212
which they are made, the
THE SPIDER-HUNTERS 9
firm clay of the garden giving a result quite different
from the usually
fine
much
dry earth of the island, in which they are larger,
and
scarcely to be distinguished
from the holes of Bembex
NEST OF
P.
In both
spinolae.
localities,
QUINQUENOTATUS
however, the nest consisted of a short tunnel, running obliquely
downward, with a
slight
enlargement at the
end, but with no change in the direction of the gallery.
In the loose sand of a steep
wasps had a place
filled
different
hillside
method.
up nearly as
we found
Their tunnels in
fast as they
and when they had reached a depth 213
that the this
could dig them,
of half
an inch they
AND SOLITARY
WASPS, SOCIAL turned
new
off at
They probably derived some advantage variation, for we saw four in succession follow
direction.
from
this
same
the
a right angle, and excavated in an entirely
plan,
which certainly appeared
telligent adaptation of
We
means
once saw a wasp of
on the Bembex
field.
be an
to
this species digging
When
in-
to ends.
finished
it
was a
her nest
large hole
which could not have been distinguished from those of spinolae,
which were open
being bright and sunny.
all
She flew
about, the weather off,
and soon reap-
peared with her spider, which was dropped three
feet
away while she ran to make sure that all was right; and now followed something that we had never seen before
-
-
she could not find her nest. She flew, she ran,
she scurried here and there, but she had utterly of
it.
She approached
it
no landmarks on the Bembex
wondered how they
lost
track
several times, but there are
find their
We
have often
places.
After five
field.
own
minutes our wasp flew back to look at her spider, and then returned to her search. the
Bembex
holes, but
She now began
to
run into
soon came out again, even when
not chased out by the proprietor.
Suddenly
it
seemed
was going to be a prolonged affair, and that her treasure was exposed to danger and hurry-
to strike her that this
;
ing back she dragged
it
into the grass at the edge of the
214
THE SPIDER-HUNTERS field,
where
was hidden. Again she resumed the hunt,
it
flying wildly
now
over the
all
running into wrong
field,
and even kicking out earth as though she thought
holes
Once
of appropriating them, but soon passing on.
more she became anxious about the ing
up on
it
to a plant
seemed determined that she
went
to
it
suspended
and
carry-
Now
there.
she
take possession of every hole
digging quite persistently in each,
into,
but then giving
spider,
it
up.
On
one that seemed to be un-
occupied she labored at enlarging the entrance, until
thought that she had mistaken
had determined
least
made up her mind and that she must
to use
it
for her
At
it.
;
and
at
however, she
last,
that all further search start afresh
own, or
we
was hopeless
forty minutes
from
we saw her first she began a new nest close spider, as though she would run no more risks.
the time that to the
This nest was successfully completed, and the spider
was stored away without further misadventure.
The egg of quinquenotatus can be but to the spider, for only once, out of
succeed in getting
it
it
hatched.
laid,
was opened on the tenth day
and
in this the spider
215
had been
it.
The
day or two, but then pined away and
other nest
was
many attempts,
out without displacing
case three days elapsed before for a
lightly attached
did
we
In this larva ate
died.
after the
Anegg
entirely eaten
WASPS, SOCIAL and the larva was
AND SOLITARY cocoon; so that the
its
just spinning
larval stage probably occupies about a week.
A summary
of our notes
shows a very wide variation
in the condition of the spiders stored
by
this
wasp. Out
of eleven that were stung three were killed at once, two lived four days,
one
five,
one eleven, one twenty-three,
one twenty-five, one thirty-one, and one
at least forty
days and probably longer.
We look back with much pleasure upon our acquaintance with
this gay, excitable little
of breezy energy that her,
and she showed
character that
it
wasp. She was so
was always
delightful to
full
meet
so wide a variation in individual
we seldom watched her without
learning
something new.
Pompilus fuscipennis, a little smaller than P. quinquenotatus,
is
frequently that
we
black, with the red girdle that appears so
among
ever saw this
brilliant red of her
flashing in the sunlight as she dragged along a
spider of the genus Thomisus.
up on
to a leaf
and began
little
Presently she carried
to bite at
turbed by an ant, hurried on with a ner.
time
first
wasp she was running rapidly
backward over the bare ground, the body
The
the solitary wasps.
it,
much
but being agitated
Soon she stopped again and resumed her
it
dis-
man-
attack,
biting savagely at the legs near their junction with the
216
THE SPIDER-HUNTERS body, and now, looking closely,
had been completely cut the
wasp was evidently
we saw
that two of
While occupied in
off.
them
this
way
She lay on
intensely excited.
one side with the abdomen bent under, turning the spider over and over as she worked. carried
onward
it
afforded
some
to the potato-field,
shelter,
and placing
above the ground, began
it
After a time she
where the plants
upon a
leaf,
well
She worked
to dig near by.
almost entirely with her mandibles, lying sometimes on her side and sometimes on her back as she cut away the earth, which
abdomen. had gone spider
When
in the length of her body, she picked
and rapidly made
on her wings and little
was pushed out with the end of her she had worked for ten minutes and
flying
off
with
backward
for a
it
on a
leaf
A
and
At the end of twenty min-
was ready, but
in bringing the spider she
missed her direction and carried it
few inches.
to dig in a fresh place.
utes the nest
on the ground, she began
hole, but
it
to
to
one
side.
Drop-
hunt about for her
was distracted with excitement and ran so
far afield that last,
several times rising
further along she again deposited
began
ping
it,
up the
we
feared she would never find
it.
At
however, she came to the place, ran in for a mo-
ment, brought the spider nearer, dropped to the nest once more, caught
217
it
it
up again, and
and ran tried to
AND SOLITARY
WASPS, SOCIAL back
in with
it.
She was holding
it
by the under
of the body, the venter being toward the hole, legs
spread out and stopped
A
entrance.
its
side
and the
moment's
tugging convinced her that this would not do, and she
then turned the spider over, holding
by the back,
it
the legs at once folded themselves across
whereupon
the underside of the thorax,
and
it
was drawn out
of
sight.
wasp came up to the edge some earth with her mandi-
After the egg was laid the of the hole,
and drawing
bles
to
began
in
dance up and down upon
into place with her
jamming it Afterwards she came
abdomen.
up higher and drew the
dirt in
getting out of the hole until
it
it,
with her
was
first
legs,
not
entirely filled up.
Then began a remarkable performance. Bracing herself firmly on her legs she used the end of her abdomen as
now pounded
the earth,
a pestle in a mortar, and
now used
an instrument, and with
now it
rubbed
it,
like
as a brush to sweep
would throw a
little
mandibles and rub part of the in
it
she
away
loose dust.
Sometimes she
earth back under her body with her it
work being
down with
her abdomen.
finished, she spent a
sweeping the ground with her
first
This
few minutes
legs,
and then
brought a quantity of small objects and placed them over the nest,
-
-
a
little stick,
218
the petal of a faded flower,
THE SPIDER-HUNTERS a scrap of dead
had been
leaf,
and
collected.
duties recalled
so on, until ten or twelve things
This
artistic finishing
of her
up
our subsequent
but
Ammophila among we never saw one do her work ;
examples of fuscipennis
They were
with such nicety. in the nest
much
more or
of the
usually contented to
fill
compactly, sometimes doing
less
work from the
outside, to brush off the
surface without any rubbing or pounding, and then to
bring two or three
pebbles or lumps of earth
little
to place over the spot.
So far as we were concerned fearless of the wasps, not
when we once placed
this
was one
of the
most
even interrupting her work
a glass over her as she
was
filling
her nest; but the approach of an ant would throw her into a perfect panic,
make
off
stand
why wasps
and
seizing her spider she
with every sign of terror.
It is difficult to
would under-
of this species, as well as of biguttatus,
never offer combat to the ants that rob them right and left,
but invariably seek safety in
toward other robbers fuscipennis that
is
Their attitude
retreat.
quite different.
We
once saw a
was dragging a Lycosid attacked by a
bigger wasp of the
same
species.
Number One
Two
left
spider on the ground
and chased Number
tance; but no sooner
had she returned and taken
than
Number Two,
her
to a disit
up
bold and unashamed, was at her 219
WASPS, SOCIAL heels again, of the robber
AND SOLITARY
and the scene was repeated. The object was to seize a leg of the spider, and whenand
ever she succeeded in doing this she jerked
it
made
owner pur-
off
with
it
very rapidly
when
but
;
the
free,
sued and caught up with her she relinquished the prize without a struggle.
and the
stronger,
Why
did she?
and possession
law in Waspland as elsewhere
coward of
her, while the other
eous cause.
but
now the
upset,
;
After a time
is
She was the bigger nine points of the
made a
but conscience
was strong
we captured
the
in her rightlittle
pirate;
nerves of the rightful owner were completely
and she flew away, deserting the spider
for
which
she had battled so bravely.
The most
interesting thing about fuscipennis
habit of biting the legs of her victims.
The
is
her
instinct
is
very irregularly developed, since four out of ten spiders
had not
lost
any
of one or two.
legs,
No
while the others had been deprived
one who has watched the wasp can
doubt that the habit
is
related to the fact that she
makes
a very small nest in comparison to the size of her prey.
The
spider never went in easily, always requiring to be
shifted
and turned and tugged
at.
There was an
especial
tendency to bite at the legs at this point of time, the wasp, standing within the tunnel,
the spider down.
was trying
when
to drag
In one instance she managed to get
220
THE SPIDER-HUNTERS it
past the entrance, but at
working
it
it
stuck in the gallery
;
It
was
still
about and pulling at
may
after
in that position for a time she brought
out, subjected the legs to a severe squeezing, tried again.
and
it
a very bad
fit,
and then
but by turning
she succeeded in getting
be that the object of biting the legs
is
it
it in.
it
It
not to remove
them, but to render them limber so that they will bend easily.
Whatever the process may
intervals
from the time the spider
be,
is
it is
repeated at
captured.
As she
wasp pauses again and again, now on bare ground and now in a sheltered place or on some carries
it,
plant, to
the
renew her
efforts at getting the legs into a satis-
factory state. P. fuscipennis rarely circles about
place
;
seems
this is unfortunate, since
to
when
leaving a
her sense of locality
be particularly weak. She nearly always has to
hunt for the plant upon which she has placed her spider,
and always
loses track of her nest
bring the spider to
We
it.
when
she tries to
once caught her as she was
carrying her spider, and then released her on the spot; but she
became
so
much
confused that without
our assistance she would never have found
Our acquaintance in the
half
middle
an inch
it
again.
with Pompilus marginatus began
of July.
long,
same
and
is
She
is
a small creature, only
dressed in black, with a bright 221
SOCIAL AND SOLITARY
WASPS,
orange spot on each side of the anterior part of the ab-
We were watching the pretty little
domen. they
filled their
Diodonti, as
when we saw her
holes with aphides,
going backward, dragging along a medium-sized spider.
Soon she came
an onion flower that was lying on the
to
Here she stopped and,
ground.
drew her prey
tation,
cluster so that
before she
it
in
after a
was hidden from view. to fly
was not long
It
about near the
poke her head
to
ground, frequently alighting
cracks and to run again and again into holes.
Never did an
insect
madness
it
was
little
into
chance
behave in a more demented
manner, and although there in her
hesi-
the blossoms of the
among
came out and began
moment's
may have been
difficult to
discover
a
it.
method
No
hole
nor cranny pleased her, and back she flew to the onion to see
whether her booty were
she ran and flew in every
safe.
now here, now
For
there,
fifteen
hurry and anxiety
movement, returning frequently
herself about the spider.
;
and
to
reassure
Several times she entered a
hole at the base of a weed, not a dental crevice
minutes
this spot
made
was
nest, but
at length
an
acci-
chosen either
as a temporary or a final resting place for her spider, since she dragged here.
We
in this,
it
from the onion and deposited
tried to capture the
we dug
wasp; but having
out the spider.
222
It
it
failed
was three inches
THE SPIDER-HUNTERS down, the hole being deeper than outside.
There was no egg upon
had not been
it
looked from the
Evidently the work
it.
finished, for the restless creature returned
an hour
fifteen times within
to the
broken
nest, either
purpose of laying her
for the
egg or to remove the spider to another
on her
resting-place
homeward way. This was our
first
specimen
of marginatus, and a month passed before we met another. It
was while watching some
Bembecidae pretty
we saw
that
orange-spotted worker dragging a small
little
Thomisid across
their nesting-ground.
so small that she held
the ground,
POMPILUS MARGINATUS
the
in her
it
and we speak
The
spider
was
mandibles well above
of her as dragging
it
only
because she walked backward and acted as though she
were obliged
to exert herself.
Quite often the spiders
taken by this species are too large to be carried, and then
it
is
necessary to drag them; this habit
grained that to
when
it
is
so in-
would be much more convenient
go straight ahead they stick to the ancient custom,
and seem unable
wasp was
in
to
move
in
any other way. This
little
a frantic hurry, running backward into the 223
AND SOLITARY
WASPS, SOCIAL Bembex
and then scrambling out again, until she had crossed the field and had turned to one side, having holes
we
gone, since
saw
first
about
her,
Here
fifteen feet.
she dropped the spider and began to skim over the
ground
-
-
not flying
it
could not be called running and yet she found a circular
until
black earth, which looked as
if it
it
was
hole in the
ran vertically down-
ward. At the time we thought that this was a nest that she had that
that it,
made
had been excavated by some other creature, she had found it and determined to make use of it
and that she was bringing her prey
that
end
and ran
to the spot with
Without entering she rushed back
in view.
the spider, but after carrying it
we afterward concluded
for herself, but
it
to
a few inches, dropped
to take another look at the nest.
time, however, she
was too much excited
to
By this know what
she was about, and for five minutes she scurried over the ground without finding
picked up
the spider four times, carried
and then dropped
it.
The
attempt at concealment.
this it
a
time she little
time she carried
last
edge of the grass and stowed
it
it
way,
to the
there, this being her first
She now found the hole again
and brought the spider nearly
was
During
it.
perfectly beside herself.
to
it,
but by this time she
The
spider
was
seized
again and again, only to be dropped the next second,
224
THE SPIDER-HUNTERS while the wasp rushed back and forth between
In time
the hole. it
this
close to the nest, but
method was
it
At
once or twice even then. seemed,
it
and pulled
carried around the edge
accidentally as
last,
it
the
and when she came out we caught her
side,
As we
sure of her identity.
we expected her in this we were
We
of procedure brought
wasp quickly ran in also down. For half an hour she remained in-
fell in, it
when
and
it
to
set
to
make
her free immediately
go to work at covering her
but
nest,
disappointed, for she did not return.
the place undisturbed from the thirteenth to
left
when we dug up the nest. The but we could find neither egg nor
the fifteenth of August,
Thomisid was
The
larva.
spider
ing of the legs. until
upon
and on the
there,
was
alive, as
was shown by a quiver-
This quivering grew fainter and
the nineteenth
was
it
twenty-first the spider
scarcely perceptible,
Our
was dead.
had been stung to death at once, while seven days and a half after being stored.
spider lived
On saw a tion
September
first,
citedly just
in another.
instant,
this
one
first
in
we
one direc-
Hovering eagerly and
ex-
above was our marginatus, dashing down
at the spider again
an
first
while out in the bean patch,
large Lycosid running madly,
and then
fainter,
and again as
and then
it
came
circling wildly
225
into view for
around
until
it
AND SOLITARY
WASPS, SOCIAL
Now
appeared once more.
she
pounced upon the
frightened spider but missed her aim, it
grasped
but was shaken
The wasp descended upon was a
At
off.
the
and over upon the ground, while
spider,
combatants all
she really
end came.
last the
doomed
violent struggle, both the
now
and there
rolling over
we could
that
distin-
guish was the flashing of the red upon the body of the
wasp.
In an instant
it
was
over,
and the wasp
leaving the spider limp and motionless
upon
its
rose,
back.
In our other examples of marginatus the spider taken
had been it
so small that the
and thrust her
wasp might
sting into
easily
have held
any spot that she pleased,
but this Lycosid was a different antagonist.
Where
the
two were so nearly matched, there could have been but slight opportunity for
skillful surgery.
In point of
wasp was at a disadvantage, and she must have come off victor by the quick use of her sting. strength
Under
the
these circumstances she
and where she
could, without
must have struck when selecting
any particu-
That she quite realized the power of her foe was shown by her next action. With the utmost cirlar spot.
cumspection she settled down upon the spider and
made mouth
a
prolonged and
parts.
The
careful
investigation
examination of the
was
satisfactory,
and
without any further stinging she seized the spider by
226
THE SPIDER-HUNTERS one
and
leg,
good load
this
earth,
and
for her,
strength to pull
it
off.
It
was a
evidently required
all
of her
time really dragged it
Not
along.
it
away was a lump of was stowed; and then
far
under which the treasure
began the usual hunting performance, which soon sulted in the discovery of another cavity which
re-
had a
very small opening.
She crept
in,
remained a minute, and then came out
and brought her spider head went in
easily,
to this
but
it
new
The
hiding-place.
took a great deal of tugging
At last both spider and wasp and everything remained quiet for
to get the rest to follow.
were out of
sight,
so long that
we began
But no; when
really to see the final act in the play.
the off
little
wasp came creeping out
on another extended
tempt to follow her. halting-place, for
tour, in
legs.
exerted
all
The
it
was only
task, however,
it
was
by pulling
at
last
to try to
one of
its
was not an easy one. She
her strength, so that
At
at-
She doubtless selected another
we expected
victim torn to pieces before our eyes, and not come.
to start
which we did not
when she returned
get the spider out of the hole
hind
we were
to think that this time
to see the still
it
did
she seemed to realize that there
was more than one way
to
accomplish her end, and
turned her attention to cutting away the earth to 227
make
WASPS, SOCIAL the opening larger.
dragged she
After a few moments' work she
and although the passage was
tried again,
too small
AND SOLITARY still
much
convenience the spider was at length
for
forth, looking
much
As
the worse for wear.
moved away we alarmed her by
lifting
some
We
up, leaving the spider on the ground.
vines
and she
that prevented our keeping her in view,
flew
seized the
opportunity to bend and twist the plants this that so that the
changes that
ground might be
left
we made probably
disconcerted her, for
she seemed to lose track of her prey.
hour she hunted about,
circling
way and uncovered. The
For over half an
above the place and
running around and around over the ground. often
came
understand
so close to the spider that
why
she did not see
covered, and again she
she
At
We
last
We
was
re-
tried to follow
to this
we had
thus far been unable to penetrate.
we had been
time
entirely unable to under-
stand the actions of marginatus, and each
added
it
not
soon disappeared into the undiscovered
country which
Up
it.
off.
we could
the vines were so thick that, in spite of our
her, but efforts,
started
She
to
new example
our confusion instead of clearing
were inclined
for herself, but
to think that she never
it
away.
made
a nest
caught her spider and then hurried
about for a good place to store 228
it,
and that her absurd
THE SPIDER-HUNTERS conduct was the result of an indecision of character
which made
it
extremely
difficult for
her to choose a
The
last part of this
place and be contented with
judgment holds
we have
history, but
her
own
We
even
true,
now when we know
her whole
at last learned that she does dig
nest.
had watched a wasp
ried her spider
her take
it.
it
from place
into a crevice
earth which she
some time
for
to place,
as she car-
and
finally
saw
among some rough lumps
We
had previously examined.
of ex-
pected one of the long spells of eventless waiting to
which she had accustomed peering into the hole
us,
we found
but on lying that there
down and
was an open-
ing on the further side, for a ray of light feebly penetrated
Moving about
the interior.
was our wasp, and distinctly, that she
her
method
-
where she may
-
We
secretly
make
illumination
we could hole.
sheltered
see, quite
This then
is
hiding-place
her nest, that no creature
her treasure
with
it
backward
is
hidden.
for a long distance
-
-
as
much
wasp which is said backward before a moving horse and catch the
as four or five feet.
flies
some
dim
have twice seen a marginatus pick up her spider
fly
to fly
little,
was digging a find
to
may know where and
after a
in this
This
recalls the
that are hovering over
it.
229
WASPS, SOCIAL P. marginatus
AND SOLITARY
not troubled by any notion as to
is
the family connections of the spider that she takes.
Anything
come is
it
will
do provided she
and carry
it
some
killed at once, while in others
strong enough to over-
The
to her nest.
quite variable, since in
in the
is
it
her sting
effect of
cases the victim
was but
little
was
affected
beginning and lived for eighteen or twenty days.
At eleven o'clock on the morning of a warm day
in
mid-August we saw the steel-blue Pompilus scelestus dragging a big Lycosid across a sixteen millimeters long
the
wasp was but
field.
and wide
The
thirteen millimeters long
slender, so that the weight of the spider
three times that of
spider
its
backward was evident
captor.
was
in proportion, while
The
and very
was
at least
necessity for going
wasp moved was dragging.
in this case, but the
rapidly considering the load that she
As she worked her way along she made frequent pauses, stopping for two or three minutes at a time in some little hollow, or under leaves or weeds.
She spent a good
deal of time, during these pauses, in cleaning herself,
and a good deal
of time also in doing something to the
spider which
we could
be biting the
legs,
not understand.
She seemed
to
near the body, beginning with an an-
and working backward, and then She went repeating the operation on the other side. terior leg
on one
side
230
THE SPIDER-HUNTERS this
through to us
it
squeezing process again and again, and
looked as though she might be trying to force
back the juices from the to cutting
them
off;
legs into the
She had made her way along
prey and start on again. in this fashion for
body preparatory
but after a time she would seize her
some ten
feet,
when
a second wasp
appeared and alighted on a weed near by. loper
was a
actions spider.
trifle
greatly interested in the paralyzed
moment
the Pompilus stopped for a
moved from stem
to
stem
just as a cat stalks a bird.
The
other
inter-
smaller than the other, and from her
was evidently
When
This
in a stealthy
rightful
the
manner
owner
of the
prey was disturbed and dashed at her, driving her away again and again, but she flew only a short distance and
was soon back, always creeping nearer and nearer the spider. tion,
of
We,
too,
were watching with
to
closest atten-
but our desire was to see the speedy homecoming
Pompilus and
of her victim;
to learn
and
whether she cut
so, interesting
as
off the legs
was the contest
between the wasp and the wasp-inquiline, we decided to interfere
and remove the
intruder.
This was very
easily accomplished, since the little insect
upon following the spider presence, and allowed us
that she
was
so intent
was oblivious
to
our
to place a bottle over her as
she stood eagerly looking for a chance to advance. 231
Her
AND SOLITARY
WASPS, SOCIAL removal gave great
to the other
relief
wasp, as was
manifested by an entire change of manner.
Before, she
had been constantly on the lookout, moving only with the greatest circumspection, but
With
vigilance. relieved,
before us status
now
she relaxed her
the Ceropales in our vial we, too,
and now the path of discovery seemed ;
felt
clear
but scarcely had things assumed their old
when a second enemy,
a
much
larger
and bolder
Ceropales, threw both the Pompilus and ourselves into
Again we took the side of our wasp and
consternation.
drove the other one
moments
later.
gallant fashion
came back her.
the
off,
but only to see
The Pompilus now and pursued
it
it
return a few
flew at
it
far afield, but
in a
most
when she
enemy was but a few seconds behind
Here we again interposed and removed the second
Ceropales from the
field of action.
wasp now resumed her journey. Before long she came to a shallow depression in the ground which was partly sheltered by All cause for anxiety being over, the
an overhanging lump of
earth,
and under
this covering
she dropped the spider and again began to squeeze legs.
After a
moment
its
to the other side
was subjected to further Next, her toilet was attended to, and
of the depression,
manipulation.
she removed
it
where
it
then the spider was carried back and placed again 232
THE SPIDER-HUNTERS under the lump of earth.
At
least ten times
was
that
limp and helpless creature dragged from one side to the other of the
depression, a distance of about
little
two inches, the time between being
filled in
by the wasp
with cleaning herself and squeezing the legs of her victim.
After forty minutes of this tedious delay the
moment came when
she picked up her burden with
renewed determination and started rapidly on her way.
We
kept very close to her, but she did not allow our
presence to interrupt her work, and, indeed, paid no attention to
After she had gone along for a distance
it.
was another pause, of only and when she resumed her on-
of about eight feet there five
minutes
this time,
ward march
it
was
new
in a
direction.
Thus
far she
had gone almost due south, but now she turned and went
six feet
toward the west.
was dropped. There was no hole
Suddenly the spider in sight, but the
wasp some important crisis had arrived. Her whole manner was excited and flurried, and we seemed
to feel that
thought that surely of the nest. still
we had reached
far away,
and
it
may
realize that the task she
for her
the neighborhood
How little we understood her! Her nest was
accomplishment
gress her strength
be that she had just begun to
had undertaken was too heavy that at her present rate of pro-
would be exhausted before she could 233
AND SOLITARY
WASPS, SOCIAL
reach her goal. At any rate, something was wrong.
was
spider
made
a
left
number
being gone as
The
unprotected on the ground while she of long excursions without
much
back from these
it,
sometimes
On
as fifteen minutes.
coming
trips she would return to the task of
squeezing the legs with such energy and persistence that
we expected
them drop
to see
run over the ground in
all
off.
Then
she would
directions, looking
under
lumps of earth and stones and poking her head every
Was
hole.
little
spot near at
hand
into
she trying to find some suitable
to take the place of the
one which
she had prepared or selected at a distance?
One hour from
the time of her arrival at this place,
and two hours from the time her, she flew
time.
We
away and was gone
herself in this
be
filled
top of a
way she was new
with a
tall
spider,
Perhaps she meant
fell
for
to
watch
an unusually long
visiting the spot to
fly
after she
with
had
to
it,
which
On her return she seemed
idea, for after climbing to the
weed
stout
down, seized the
she could
we began
can only suppose that when she absented
she wished to convey her booty. to
that
that
and lift
but
raised
tried to to
it
it
it
grew near by, she came drag
it
up
the stem.
such an elevation that
was too heavy
for her
and
to a height of three inches.
She then flew away again, and on her return we caught 234
THE SPIDER-HUNTERS her, fearing that she
was becoming discouraged and
that she might presently depart to be seen no more.
Had
there been any prospect of her solving the
diffi-
culty that beset her our patience might have held out to the end,
but this was evidently a case in which there
was a
failure of instinct, or intelligence, or
faculty
was concerned.
More than
a year passed before
whatever
we had another
op-
portunity of solving this problem of scelestus, and the pleasure with which
we
hailed her second appearance
may be easily imagined. This time the wasp had made her nest, but was not ready to fill it, and
in
our garden
when we
first
saw her she was running about without
any particular aim supposed her
to
in view, although at the time
Before long she went and
be hunting.
took a look at the neat round hole which she had near the fence that separates the garden
The
we
made
from the woods.
earth that had been taken out either had been
carried to a distance or
had been swept away
after the
digging was completed, for there was no pile to be seen.
This was
at
two o'clock of a cloudy afternoon.
be that she needed the stimulus of sunshine to her hunt, or perhaps she realized that what was the day
would not give her
sufficient
home.
At any
spider and bring
it
235
may make
It
left
of
time to capture her rate,
she spent the
WASPS, SOCIAL
AND SOLITARY
remainder of the afternoon in making short excursions
around her
attended, at a
nest,
little
by a
distance,
smaller blue wasp, Pompilus subviolaceus, whose pre-
sence she did not seem to notice.
These
from ten
nest,
from
to
fifteen
twenty
from the
feet
minutes to half an hour.
to the nest she flattened herself out
wriggled
around tions
it
in
the
trips
each occupying
At every return
on the ground and
and then dragged
dust,
in the strangest
took her
manner.
herself all
Perhaps these
were indications of pleasurable emotion.
We
ac-
had
seen them once before, in Priononyx atrata just before
she carried a locust into her nest.
At a
little
after four o'clock she
very carefully, the plants
began
and grasses
to investigate,
that immediately
surrounded her hole, showing an especial interest in
one bunch of clover that grew four inches away.
Into
and peering curiously among the greenery, we discovered her hanging to a leaf, which was sheltered by thick foliage on all sides. Here she
this she finally vanished,
remained motionless and probably
sundown, when we
When we following scelestus
We
went
thought
it
still
asleep
until
her for the night.
left
to the
morning,
was
fast
garden
at eight o'clock
on the
subviolaceus was on hand, but
sound asleep
best to
awaken 236
in her
leafy bower.
her, for a large spider
THE SPIDER-HUNTERS had spread
its
drop upon
it
web
just below,
and
if
the
nothing could save her.
wasp should
We
therefore
aroused her gently, whereupon she crept slowly up the
stem and, taking her stand on the highest point, veyed the world. Then, she
made
her
toilet,
and washing her
sur-
after stretching herself sleepily,
cleaning off her wings and legs,
When
face with her feet like a cat.
these duties were finished she walked slowly about for
an hour,
visiting her nest every
at
denly,
now and
then.
Sud-
her whole manner
half past nine o'clock,
changed, and seeming very much excited she ran rapidly along, parallel with the fence, for fifteen or twenty feet,
and then, woods.
rising
on her wings, flew
far
away
She had evidently gone hunting
we watched
eagerly for her return.
into the
and
at last,
She was not suc-
cessful at once, however, for at half past ten she
came
back without anything, stayed at the nest for a few minutes, and then flew to the woods again with the
same
excited
manner
as before.
Perhaps she had
al-
ready caught her spider at some far distant spot, and
was
home
getting ;
peared,
but
it
her bearings preparatory to bringing
it
was half past one when she suddenly ap-
five or six inches
ward through the
fence,
from the
nest,
coming back-
and dragging a large Lycosid.
This she laid down close by, and began 237
to bite at the
AND SOLITARY
WASPS, SOCIAL
manner of the wasp we had seen Her movements were full of nervous
legs quite after the
the year before.
marked
excitement, in day. to
contrast to those of the previous
Presently she went to look at her nest, and seemed
be struck with a thought that had already occurred -
to us
-
that
it
was decidedly too small
Back she went
spider.
measured
victim,
it
make
to
it
that the spider
markably
at
larger.
enlarge their holes
wasps
it,
once returned to the nest
We have several times seen
when
would not go
intelligent
hold the
with her eye, without touching
drew her conclusions, and and began
to
for another survey of her bulky
a
trial
in,
had demonstrated
but this seemed a
re-
use of the comparative faculty.
Her method
of
nel with her
head down and her abdomen curved under,
work was
peculiar.
Standing in the tun-
she bit the earth loose with her mandibles and pushed it
under her body and beyond the
When it
a
little
tip of the
had accumulated she backed
abdomen.
out, holding
in this way.
While she was thus employed the spider was attacked by a very have
tiny red ant, that could not
stirred
insignificant
it.
When
the
marauder she
by any
possibility
wasp caught
sight of this
into a
of wild fury,
fell
fit
and bending her abdomen under, seized the ant again and again in her mandibles, and flung it backward 238
THE SPIDER-HUNTERS The
against the tip of her sting.
creature finally
little
escaped, seeming none the worse for the rough handling to which
had been subjected, while the wasp,
it
trembling with excitement, grasped her spider and
still
rushed
a distance of several
off to
on a weed and depositing
feet,
The
there.
it
carrying
it
up
labor of ex-
cavation was then resumed, and after a half-hour's
work the
nest
was completed
Coming up head around being
it.
left
The
she flattened herself out on
dragged herself
thus,
spider was now brought
all
to the nest,
once on the way while she ran in and out again,
and was taken Backing
first,
and sprawling
the ground,
to her satisfaction.
new and
in after a
in herself, she seized
men and dragged
it
original fashion.
by the
tip of the
abdo-
down
without any trouble, since
the legs were gently pushed
up over the head and made
no
it
resistance.
In two minutes she emerged from the opening, and standing on the four posterior
legs,
with her
abdomen
hanging down into the hole, scratched the earth back-
ward with she pushed filled still
the front legs it
down with
and mandibles. the
As
it
fell
in
abdomen, and as the hole
she raised herself higher and higher on her legs,
using the tip of the
into place.
abdomen
to
work the material
WASPS, SOCIAL
When
AND SOLITARY was nearly completed,
the filling of the nest
we caught
and
the wasp,
back the earth into the
after taking the spider, hole.
Subviolaceus,
threw
who had
watched the homecoming from a respectful distance,
now
felt
that her turn
the spot began to dig.
had come, and descending upon Not finding anything, she shifted
her position several times, and worked industriously,
even returning after we had
Sharp posit
her away.
frightened
says that a Ceropales has been observed to ovi-
on a
spider, not while
it
was being
carried in, but
subsequently by entering the nest for the purpose
and the actions
We
tentions on her part. at
have watched her
a time running into the open
field,
nests
for
an hour
on the Bembex
sometimes coming out again directly and some-
times remaining inside for several minutes. likely that she it
;
of subviolaceus pointed to similar in-
may be
would
that she
that are often
made
utilize the flies of
was looking in the
for the
same
not notice subviolaceus, and
it
It is not
Bembex, but
Pompelid nests
locality.
is difficult
Scelestus did to see
why a
wasp should be disturbed by the presence of a paraIn making and storing her nest she is the blind site. instrument of an impelling power
must do, but not why she does
it.
;
she
knows what she
Her descendants
are
in most cases as completely outside of her experience
240
-
.---
n",
,^- >V.!isjljSfialSfiB*sv>
K'-
./--
IIJ
.-
.
-
A/
"
'
wAXv *;
THE HOME-COMING OF SCELESTUS
"*
.iix/-.
lW
< ,:
THE SPIDER-HUNTERS as her ancestors,
and how should she guess
presence of a certain
Of what happens
race? she
is
or
fly
wasp means danger
to her
to her
egg after she leaves
it
so absolutely ignorant that she might easily look
on with serene indifference
own
that the
at the destruction of her
larva by that of the intruder.
In Astata we
might be expected, a calm tolerance of the Chrysis
fly,
see, as
visits of
the
but the uneasiness of scelestus herself at
the sight of Ceropales
and the valorous defense
poxy Ion show more highly developed
of Try-
Bem-
instincts.
bex, too, deeply resents the presence of parasites, al-
though after the deed
is
done she feeds
their
without questioning their right to her care. bees,
Andrena, and Nomada, which
are said to live
genera there
is
is
parasitic
on most friendly terms; but
young
Among upon
it,
in other
a deep-seated enmity between host and
parasite.
In the literature of the Hymenoptera references have
been made from time
to
time to certain wasps that cut
off the legs of spiders or
other creatures before storing
them away; but observations on the subject have been rare and not very definite. Brehm, in the "Thierleben," says that Agenia punctata builds nests of
and places
in each
from which she has
cell first
mud,
one moderately large spider
removed 243
all
the legs.
The
AND SOLITARY
WASPS, SOCIAL
most interesting notes on the subject have been made
M. Goureau, who
by
spiders that
having had the
an account of finding two
had been mutilated by wasps, one of them all
of the legs cut
and the other
off,
all
At another time a wasp that was
first pair.
near him
gives
let fall
but
flying
a spider, which he captured before
The wasp
could be recovered by the owner.
it
escaped,
so that he could not determine the species, but the spider's legs
He
had been removed.
concluded that
stead of stinging the spiders the wasps
them
He does not seem
so that they could not run away.
to realize that
in-
had mutilated
death would certainly result from such
an operation.
Vespa germanica often cuts wasp, or even cuts
away with is
it,
its
but this
body is
off the
into
only
two
when
wings of a dead
parts, before flying
the captured insect
too large to be handled in any other way;
pilus fuscipennis
from her
sometimes cuts
off
spider, although without
and Pom-
one or more legs
any regular method
of procedure.
Agenia bombycina finds a nesting-place
on our smoke-house,
in the crevice
to her liking
between the bricks
and the wooden door-frame, where she makes of
little
mud
cells,
clusters
putting one mutilated spider into
each, and storing about one a day.
244
Her
locality sense
THE SPIDER-HUNTERS is
unusually poor, owing apparently to her intense
nervousness and excitability, but some individuals
are
endowed than
better
others in this respect.
On
a bright morning in the middle
August we stationed ourselves by the smoke-house at eight o'clock, and half of
an hour
lumps
later
an Agenia began
under the door frame. steadily,
load
to bring
of earth, working out of sight
She kept
NEST OF AGENIA
BOMBYCINA at
it
spending three or four minutes in getting a
and one or two
in placing
it.
At twelve
o'clock,
her nest being ready, she flew away to hunt for a spider.
and goes
So long as a wasp comes
at frequent intervals
time
slips
away rapidly, but to keep one's attention unflagging through hours of watching
weariness to the
We
flesh.
of our Agenia until three,
is
saw no more
when she
ap-
peared, half walking, half flying through
Her
the grass, going forward.
was
spider
FOUND
held by the spinnerets, and being larger
than she was
it
trailed
the spider
made
her
On
behind her.
reaching the wall she began to climb fall
LYCOSA KOCH ",
;
IN NEST OF AGENIA BOM-
BYCINA
but the weight of
again and again, and forty
245
AND SOLITARY
WASPS, SOCIAL
minutes passed in wearisome
toil
before
it
was
safely put
away. The egg having been laid, she began to bring earth for closing, and we felt thankful that our task as well as hers
was nearly
She worked slowly now,
over.
taking ten or fifteen minutes for a trip but after bringing ;
in the sixth pellet she took
on a
livelier air,
and before
long we were convinced that she had begun to build a new cell. For two hours longer we watched her un-
when we
remitting labor, and
was
her at six o'clock she
back and forth as briskly as
flying
Another Agenia, at three o'clock
head
left
in, tail
ever.
ambitious, brought her spider
less
and then went
sticking out.
We
to
cut
bed
an empty
in
away
cell,
a section of the
door-frame that covered the spot without disturbing her slumber.
This one could never remember where
her nest was, but had a long hunt for she brought a pellet
;
it
every time
and when she had caught the
spider she lost herself completely on the brick wall,
going to the very top, and even around the corner
on
to the side of the building.
would
up
fly
back
afresh,
and
Every
little
to the grass at the threshold in
this
way
the right spot by accident.
she finally
and
start
stumbled on
This seemed very stupid
of her, as she
made many
havior was in
striking contrast to
246
while she
locality studies. little
Her
be-
Rhopalum's
THE SPIDER-HUNTERS unerring choice of one tiny pin-hole just like
The egg
among hundreds
it.
larva of
is laid.
bombycina cocoons nine days
The
spiders that
we found
dead even when taken on the day of
was no
in the cells storing.
rule about the degree of mutilation,
seven legs
left,
two
five,
were
There
one having
one two, and four none.
have no doubt that the object of save room in the nest.
after the
this curious habit
We is
to
Chapter
X
THE ENEMIES OF THE GRASSHOPPER September a
in
little
EARLY denly became very common first
black Tachytes sudin the garden.
one that we saw was going forwards in a
The
series of
long jumps, carrying a small grasshopper which was held by the base of the antennae. She soon doubled on
her tracks, and
it
became evident
that she did not
know
her way; but after going about in circles for two min-
When
utes she ran into her nest.
she
came out she
spent a long time in circling around, flying close to the
ground in wavy, snaky run a few steps; but
when
lines,
occasionally alighting to
in spite of this locality study, ten
came jumping along with her second grasshopper, she had lost her nest again and
minutes
later,
she
hunted about just as before, twice going directly over it
without seeing
other
wasp
it.
of the
While she was thus occupied an-
same
species attacked her
and
tried
to get possession of the grasshopper, but the rightful
owner was able
to
defend
it.
At
248
last
it
was stored away,
THE ENEMIES OF THE GRASSHOPPER and she proceeded
to
fill
the nest, scratching the earth
and working it down with the She worked quietly but steadily
in with her first legs
of the
abdomen.
tip
for
TACHYTES
ten minutes, closing the place neatly, bits of leaf
and pieces
and then brought
of earth to cover
it
all
over.
On the same afternoon we saw another of these digging her nest, but she was so
much
wasps
disturbed
we came anywhere near her that we were retire. On the next day we saw her astride
when
obliged to of a small
grasshopper, jumping along like the one of the day before.
When
She too had great trouble
in finding her
she reached the nest she laid her prey
way.
down
while she went inside for a moment, and then, coming
249
WASPS, SOCIAL out, seized
it
AND SOLITARY
by the antennae and backed
instead of taking
in forwards as
it
was done
in with
it,
in the other
case.
Another wasp of
this species carried
a
much
larger
grasshopper, which was so heavy that she could not
jump with In
it,
but was obliged to keep to the ground.
this case only
one was used instead of two, which
wasp was from her nest, and
the usual number. This
first
of twenty feet
yet she
seen at a distance
went straight
to the right spot without the least confusion,
that
some individuals
of the species
is
showing
have a better idea
of locality than others.
The ment
nest
is
a short, shallow tunnel with an enlarge-
at the end,
within which are placed the grass-
hoppers, on their backs, with their heads
packed
in.
Earth
is
solidly into the tunnel, but not into the cavity
at the end.
We
took two eggs of this species.
Each was placed
across the thorax of the grasshopper at the base of the
Both hatched
neck, on the ventral side. thirty-six
hours from the time they were
three days, ate only
and then spun
their cocoons.
at the
end of
laid, ate for
One
of
them
one small grasshopper, leaving a second one
untouched, while the other finished the large grass-
hopper that formed her
sole provision.
250
THE ENEMIES OF THE GRASSHOPPER The
grasshoppers taken from the nests,
were in
ber,
mouth
all
parts,
five in
cases alive, there being a quivering of the
and
any stimulation.
in
some cases
of the legs also, without
This condition lasted for twenty-four
hours from the time the poison was injected. that they
became
quiet, but
were destroyed by the It is
so
remained
much
After
alive until they
larvae.
a curious thing that in these wasps
perfection of that is
num-
method
is
found the
of paralyzing the prey
which
dwelt upon by Fabre, although from their
habits this fine
workmanship
is
not of the slightest use
NEST OF TACHYTES
to
them.
They entomb
their
victims underground,
where the conditions are favorable
to their preservation,
and the extremely short period that elapses between 25 1
AND SOLITARY
WASPS, SOCIAL the laying of the egg
makes
of the cocoon
a matter of indifference whether the grass-
it
hopper
and the spinning
alive or dead, since in
is
eaten before decomposition set
We deserve
no
any case
it
would be
in.
credit for discovering a second species,
Tachytes peptonica, for by her loud buzzing, slow
and
flight,
persistent hovering over the nest she gave us every
assistance in her power.
She looks and acts
of the large leaf-cutting bees,
and
this
like
one
resemblance
is
heightened by the fact that the grasshopper which she carries
which
is is
frequently of a leaf-green color.
Her
nest,
sometimes on the bare ground and sometimes
in the grass, has
no external sign
to
mark
it,
and when
with a great deal of fuss and buzzing she descends
and burrows,
it
closes
behind her and disappears from
view, so that unless one
no way of detecting slight it
in
amount
it
marks the exact spot
On
afterward.
there
is
her exit a very
of scratching closes the hole
and leaves
looking exactly like the surrounding surface; so that
comparing her work with the protracted labor
Ammophila and some
species of
ing the locality of the nest, cess to
Pompilus
we were
of
in disguis-
struck by the suc-
which she attained with a very
trifling
amount
of effort. It takes
peptonica thirty or forty minutes to catch 252
THE ENEMIES OF THE GRASSHOPPER a grasshopper, and at each fifteen
minutes inside the
visit
nest.
ried in the mandibles, supported
pairs of legs. this species,
bringing
it
We
she remains for ten or
The grasshopper
is
by the second and
car-
third
never succeeded in opening a nest of
but a grasshopper taken as the wasp was
home
did not die until the sixth day.
In our summer work we often found ourselves wishing that
we could be
in half
and could chase several wasps did
we
feel these desires
a dozen places at once
at the
same
Never
time.
more keenly than on
the twenty-
ninth of July, when, after spending the best part of an
hour in watching the hunting of an Ammophila, we were obliged to choose between following her to a possible
and giving our attention to a little jet-black wasp, Lyroda subita, which we now saw for the first time. This wasp was running around a bunch of clover conclusion,
in a nervous, agitated
manner, as though she were
oppressed by some great anxiety. covering something entirely
The chance
new decided us
our Ammophiline hopes, and we sat down
of dis-
to relinquish at the feet of
our new teacher.
We bunch
could not see anything remarkable about that of clover, but certainly the spot
attraction for the uneasy in
one direction and then
little
wasp.
in another.
253
had some strong She ran She
off first
circled
about
AND SOLITARY
WASPS, SOCIAL and made short
flights
always returned.
At
interest
now
last
this
that,
ground and picking up a
small black cricket which had been lying close by
She flew up into the
time.
air
with
it,
but even
not leave the neighborhood, continuing to place to place, alighting
but
she betrayed the secret of her
to the
by descending
way and now
fly
all
the
now
did
about from
now and again on
the bean
plants.
After this performance had lasted for five minutes
she brought her burden back to the same spot that
had occupied
down, and without vouch-
it
any explanation of her conduct, began
safing to us
burrow
before, laid
She went down head
into the soft earth.
backing out with the front legs.
dirt,
it
to
first,
which she carried with the
While she was thus occupied we defended
her booty against two hunting parties of ants which, at
upon it and would certainly have we had not been at hand.
different times, fell
carried It
it
off if
took the wasp twenty minutes to open the burrow,
although, as
we afterward
learned,
it
had been exca-
vated before. At the end of that time she turned around inside,
came out head
first,
and dragged the
cricket
within.
We
at
once opened the nest, but found
to follow the tunnel
it
impossible
on account of the crumbling of 254
THE ENEMIES OF THE GRASSHOPPER the earth.
doomed
Indeed,
to
little
failure, for
complete
gone down between a
we almost concluded
six
it
we were
that
was not
until
we had
and seven inches that we found, in
wasp in company with three crickets, which was a larva a day or two old. At the
pocket, our
upon one
of
we knew nothing of the habits of Bembex spinolae, and we were much astonished to find a wasp which evitime
dently fed her young from day to day.
The contents of wasp-nursery
the nest were carefully conveyed to our
The
at the cottage.
cricket that
we had
upon which one was alive, as was
seen taken in was dead, as was also the one
was
the larva
feeding.
The
third
shown by a rhythmic movement
By
side.
On
the
the larva
of the palp
on the
right
the next day, however, this one also was dead. of the third day, July thirty-first,
morning
had eaten
all
of the
first
cricket
and the greater
part of one of the others, leaving only the large hind legs.
Supplying the place of the mother, we killed two more
and put them
into the tube.
One
of these
was
eight
millimeters long, this being about the size of those which the
wasp
herself
had caught, while the other was
another species and meters long.
Its size
much
being thirty
milli-
and kind, however, made no
differ-
larger,
ence to the larva, which attacked there were
of
this
one next, although
two small ones yet untouched. 2 55
It ate
only
WASPS, SOCIAL
AND SOLITARY and then passed
half of this big one, however,
August second we gave
two more small
it
On
on.
and
crickets,
day and the one following its good appetite continued, but on August fourth it stopped eating. We
for that
thought that
its
pected to see
it
larval
spin
life
its
must be completed, and
cocoon, but something was lack-
ing which we were too ignorant fifth it died.
It
had eaten
the large one, which
ex-
six
was equal
to supply,
and on August
small crickets and half of
about two more. Thus
to
ended our only acquaintance with
this interesting little
wasp.
The second week
August furnished such good play n our garden that island life was neglected; but one brilliant
of
morning we rowed over
and Philanthus, hoping for us. crest
to the
that something
home
new was
We were not disappointed, for as we
we met a
of
Bembex in store
climbed the
splendid Chlorion cceruleum dressed in
shining blue, cricket in mouth, plunging side through the long grass.
down
the
hill-
Twenty-five feet below,
she reached her underground home, vanished for two or three minutes, and then, coming to the entrance,
turned her head from side to side as though listening.
Some
indiscreet insect
was chirping loudly not
and before long the wasp ran out
far
away,
into the grass, flew to
a stump, dropped to the ground, flew to the top of a 256
tall
CHLORION AND THE INDISCREET CRICKET
THE ENEMIES OF THE GRASSHOPPER A moment
weed, dropped again, and ran into a hole. later she
came
out, dragging a very
that crossed her path
the cricket
head
was chased
was placed on
its
limp cricket.
vindictively,
An
back and scraped from
to foot four or five times with the mandibles.
then ran a
farther, laid
little
ant
and then
it
peated the operation, after which
down it
again,
was taken
and
She re-
into the
nest.
To
find ourselves
on the track of a
lively
wasp
at the
beginning of her day's work was great good luck, and as
Madam
Cceruleum was perfectly
fearless
and did
her hunting on foot, instead of disconcerting us with
by which many
the long flights
the chase hopeless,
we had
of our
wasps made
every chance to learn her
ways. It
was a
o'clock
fatal
and one,
day
for the crickets.
sixteen
to provision three cells,
vations.
Between nine
had been packed away, enough as we knew from former obser-
Her manner was
brisk
and
energetic, as she
ran about poking her head into every likely hole.
At
one time we saw her dislodge a cricket which tried to escape by hiding under some brush. She pursued, there
was a
lively
scrimmage, and
and was then held gave
it
it
was pulled out
in the mandibles,
quite limp
back up, while she
a prolonged sting under the neck, after which
259
WASPS, SOCIAL it
AND SOLITARY
was carried home without further manipulation. At
another time she paused in her home-coming to give the
The
victim one long squeeze at the neck.
placed in pockets, neatly arranged
were
crickets
their
backs with
heads inward and their long legs projecting into
their
the
on
main
tunnel.
from day
them
to
They were
day
alive
when
taken, but died
in the laboratory, the larvae eating
in this state without criticism.
While we were watching we noticed a much smaller
wasp hovering about, and presently she slipped When the owner returned and found the nest. there
was a
slight
commotion
into her,
in the passage-way,
and
then the inquiline appeared, shaking her wings in a
manner, as though she cared nothing for an
flippant
encounter with the Big Blue.
Instead of coming out
immediately as usual, cceruleum stayed inside for twentyfive
We
minutes.
should like to think that she was
occupied in finding and destroying the egg of the parasite,
but we have no reason to suppose that she could
recognize that
Cceruleum to
day
to
fit
menace
lives in
to her fortunes.
her nest and enlarges
her necessities.
On
it
from day
going over to the island
one morning we found a cricket sleeping calmly in the entrance way, tion.
It
little
guessing
how dangerous was
did not budge until the wasp
260
its
posi-
came creeping up
THE ENEMIES OF THE GRASSHOPPER from below, when
it
to a place of safety.
jumped away
Before the day's hunting began, a long study of the
was made on
locality
foot, tufts of grass,
stones being carefully noted,
ease with which the nest
One
on the Bembex
very anxious
air,
She
pair of legs.
she picked
afterward found. little
red Tachysphex
field of the island.
She had a
and was running about wildly and
let it
drop four or
five times,
up again she seemed to sting
it
we were
began
accounts for the
holding a small grasshopper with the third
rapidly,
this
this
we saw a
July afternoon
tarsata
is
and
weeds and
not quite certain.
At
last
to rush about, investigating the
she
and when it,
but of
and
left it
Bembex
holes,
them and perhaps throwing out a little though she intended to use it, and then hurrying
entering one of dirt as
We
off to another.
was the
have no doubt that her confusion
result of her
having
lost
track of a hole that
she had made, as was the case with P. quinquenotatus in one of our earlier observations.
The Pompilus,
after
a long search, resigned herself to the necessities of the case and
made
a
new
nest
;
but
this little
wasp could not
adjust herself to a break in the system of her instinctive activities,
We
and
at last deserted her
prey and disappeared.
waited for an hour; and then, as she did not
turn,
we took
possession of the grasshopper. 261
It
re-
gave no
WASPS, SOCIAL
AND SOLITARY
response to stimulation and never revived, a very careful
was quite dead. the next morning we again saw this wasp on the
examination later showing that
On
Bembex when
it
She was looking
field.
for a nesting-place,
she had selected one she began to work
weather was
were in the
warm and
perhaps resenting the presence of the
perhaps in a
the
sunny, so that the Bembecids
swing of their obstreperous
full
;
and
spirit of teasing,
activity,
and
red wasp, or
little
they kept snatching her
up and carrying her off to a distance of two or three feet. She took these interruptions with the most philosophic composure, hurrying back to her as she
was
When
the nest
released, without
was
work as soon
any display of resentment.
finished, she
made
a careful locality
study both on foot and on the wing and then flew away.
In twenty minutes she came back, apparently fresh her all
memory,
made
careful notes of
the points that could help her to identify the place.
She dug a minutes all
for she again
to re-
little
later,
more and then departed,
on
foot,
the precautions she
ment she was unable
to return five
with a grasshopper.
had taken,
to
remember
In spite of
at this exciting
just
mo-
where her nest
was, and spent some time in running wildly about, but
when
she did find
it
she went in without delay.
We
caught her as she came out, and dug up the grasshopper, 262
THE ENEMIES OF THE GRASSHOPPER but found no egg, so that she probably would have
brought in a second victim had we
her go.
let
The
tunnel ran in obliquely for an inch and a half, the
pocket at the end being two inches below the surface.
A
few days
later
we saw Larra
quebecensis, another
grasshopper wasp, with the same red abdomen
little
as tarsata, going to
throwing out a
and
fro
about her
nest, occasionally
She ran about near by
sand.
little
through the afternoon, but was not in a
mood
all
for work.
On the next morning at ten o'clock, we found her touching
up the
nest a
little,
after
which she
left it
open and
In an hour she came leaping along
like
Tachytes, holding a small grasshopper in the third
legs.
flew away.
This was placed inside the door while she turned around,
and was then pulled and
in twenty
more a
She came out immediately,
in.
minutes brought a second, and in ten
third grasshopper, staying within this time for
some minutes,
after
which she closed the
nest.
We took
out the grasshoppers, one of which bore an egg underneath, in the middle, in front of the
The
grasshoppers lived for
the egg did not develop. that
had
laid
for her nest.
down
down
pair of legs.
and seven days, but once saw a quebecensis
five, six,
We
her grasshopper while she hunted
She was moving
the face of a
first
cliff,
in sinuous lines
up and
with incredible rapidity 263
;
we
WASPS, SOCIAL
AND SOLITARY
could not distinguish her, but could see only a black streak with an occasional flash of crimson. rises
on her wings,
appearing as
even guess
if
too, she is
by magic,
it
When
wonderfully quick,
she dis-
being quite impossible to
at the direction she is taking.
Chapter XI
WORKERS
nests of Pelopaeus
THE
CLAY
IN
cceruleus
and Pelopaeus
cementarius, our two mud-daubers, are
under eaves and
in other sheltered places,
common
and many a
country boy on opening them has been astonished
to
find that they
do not contain wasps, but are crammed
with spiders.
Let them alone, however, and the wasps
somewhere
will arrive, for
when
it
in the
mass
is
an egg; and
hatches the spiders will serve as breakfast, din-
ner and tea for the larva, until the change from the
Arachnida
Hymenoptera has been accomplished. is a wonder that there are any left, such
to the
Poor spiders
!
it
thousands and tens of thousands are destroyed by these
tremendously energetic enemies.
Of what
is
little
humming loudly, benumbed victims into her
Pelopaeus thinking as,
she jams her paralyzed and cylindrical tubes?
If only
we could
get inside of
we could be wasps for a and then come back and tell about it, how much
that
little
head
!
If only
speculation would be saved
!
265
We
day,
vain
can understand her
AND SOLITARY
WASPS, SOCIAL when she
soars gayly into the blue, the sunshine flashing
from her
brilliant
wings
we
;
She
health and freedom.
pillars
when,
but
;
at the
among
we cannot
moment
the delight of
sisters quarrel for the
the carvings of the porch
follow her mental processes
of building, she surrenders herself of instinct, doing she
to the mysterious
sway
what, but doing
joyously,
it
felt
comprehensible when,
is still
and her
at the close of day, she
favorite sleeping-places
too have
knows not
and preserving through
own
the precious possession of her
it all
Every
individuality.
aspect speaks of pleasure as these wasps gather at well or spring, and, singing contentedly, stand on their heads
mud.
to gather their loads of fly
back and
forth,
Briskly and gayly they
pausing at the nest long enough to
A
pat the soft building material into shape.
makes
half a ring at the larger part of the nest or a
whole one next
is
at the
bottom and since one
dries before the
;
put on, the contour of each ring
the tube
is
done, giving a very artistic
only accident, however
;
the
wasp
is
visible
effect.
the whole with lumps
of
mud,
thickened and strengthened. necessary for each
cell,
and
266
This
is
is
to
daub
the walls being thus
About
to build
a good day's work.
when
cares nothing about
the beauty of the structure, for her next step
is
single load
forty loads
are
and provision one
WORKERS It is strange
Pelopaeus
IN CLAY
enough that with no one
knew how
to
do her hunting, and
make
it
is
her
cell;
stranger
but
still
to teach her
now she must
that she should
be impelled to catch nothing but spiders. she
know
fer
one to the other?
How
does
and why should she preNot so unreasonable as some
a spider from a
fly,
wasps, however, she demands nothing further than that
her prey shall belong to this great group, and passes lightly over differences
powerful sting
fits
meet but as the sideration,
wing, she
her to cope with anything she
size of the cell
;
is
on the lookout
makes use
How
must be taken
to
for
something not too
times
large.
be an automaton, and to some
of her wits.
does Pelopaeus seize her spider
how many
may
into con-
and the victim must be carried home on the
Here then she ceases extent
Her
and genera.
of species
is it
stung?
Is the
When and
?
wound
given with
discrimination, a certain point in the ganglion being
pricked, so that the spider killed?
Is there
may be
These were important questions therefore greatly excited over our
the blue wasps
paralyzed, but not
any malaxation?
came
to us, first
and we were
hunt.
flying along, alighted
One
on our
of
cot-
tage wall, and began her search, creeping into corners
and cracks and
investigating cottony
267
lumps of web.
AND SOLITARY
WASPS, SOCIAL
In a few moments a small Epeira to
strix (the
only species
be found on the cottage) was dislodged, and at once
dropped
to the floor of the porch.
further attention to
Three more
to the floor without
one discovered was a
little
being followed.
or at least so
it
The
larger than the others,
and was seized by the jaws and first legs before it had time to escape. It was then ball,
paid no
spiders, one after the other, were disturbed
and dropped fifth
it,
The wasp
but went on with her search.
of the
wasp
rolled into a
appeared, and stung, then rolled
more and stung again, and then carried off. We had scarcely drawn breath after this performance a
little
when a second wasp appeared. This one spiders,
and then caught a
stung without any
A
third,
rolling,
dislodged two
which was seized and
and then
instantly borne
third
wasp seized the first spider that she found, and started on her flight at the same moment, away.
stinging
it
on the wing.
So the game went on, while we waxed excitement and fascination of the chase.
warm As
with the
the hours
went by some of the yellow mud-daubers appeared, adding
to the interest of the scene,
not see that their
method
although we could
differed in the least
from that
of cceruleus.
Rarely did they succeed in catching a spider until 268
WORKERS
IN CLAY
they had dislodged two or three. Sometimes the spiders
were followed as they dropped, and were caught on the floor,
but oftener the wasp
let
them escape and continued
At the moment
her search on the wall.
could see that she bent her flicted
of capture
we
abdomen under and
in-
we
a sting, but although
concentrated our atten-
tion
on the point we could not be sure as
part
was touched.
sting
It is
to just
our impression that
was given anywhere,
at
what
this first
random, with the object
of producing a condition of temporary quiet in the victim, so that the next part of the operation could be
carried
on with
The second the
wasp
deliberation.
step in the procedure
to alight
was commonly
for
upon some neighboring object, usuand sting the spider
ally the branch of a bush or tree,
a second time, being evidently in no haste
but the
her as she flew, and her habit
difficulty of following
of alighting above our range of vision,
impossible to see just what she did.
mained on the branch
;
for
made
it
almost
She certainly
some moments,
re-
either resting
quietly or rolling the spider around and around, and
had every opportunity wished; but
we afterward found
exact method, killed at the
to sting
since
moment
it
as carefully as she
that she followed
no
two thirds of the spiders were of capture,
269
and most
of the others
AND SOLITARY
WASPS, SOCIAL
died within a week, while a few lived for thirty-five or forty days.
In
this
seventy-three cells
study
we opened
hundred and
five
and handled over two thousand
spi-
ders, watching over them from day to day with a mag-
nifying glass, that
When
no sign of
Pelopasus has
makes another
close to
filled it,
being found in one spot. is
might be neglected.
life
her
cell,
clusters of
Any
it
up and
six to
twenty
she seals
from
especially desirable place
used by great numbers and they make a ;
working
eagerly at their nests,
or bringing in their victims.
compelling instinct, they are
dashing
All animated still
spider she sees, no matter
first
be,
and makes twenty-five or
her
cell is filled,
more mud
by the same
and the
individuals,
character of each enters into her work. the
lively scene,
off for
One
how
picks
tiny
up
may
it
thirty journeys before
while another seems to have a calcu-
lating turn of mind, using four or five big spiders in-
stead of a quantity of small ones. of the calibre of her
trouble
by
cell,
Has
she
and determined
looking farther
and
made a
note
to save herself
selecting the
largest
ones that will go in?
Most
of
them place
their cells vertically; but a
prefer the horizontal position, while
cided as to the matter of direction,
still
others, unde-
make
clusters in
which some are horizontal and others upright. 270
few
Occa-
WORKERS sionally there
material, as
is
IN CLAY
a remarkable innovation in building-
where in a group of
fifteen,
four cells in the
centre were constructed of pure white plaster, forming
a striking contrast to the surrounding
wasp
the
following until the
and
cell
even
that
it
color.
One
original fashion,
beaten track
was completed,
mud
bringing it
over, as
were doing, but
sisters
sticking
an
entire cluster after
daub
to
enough her
an
built
mud
all in
when
the
one spot, so
group was
HORIZONTAL CELLS OF THE MUD-DAUBER
complete
lumps
irregular
were attached here and
there, leaving visible the elegant
architecture of the individual
were too pretty to
spoil ? or
cells.
Did she think they
was she merely one
of those
radical spirits that rebel against conventionality
demand change
for the sake of
change?
variations that furnish Natural Selection with terials;
but rigid as
may
non-survival of the unfit, still
after
spending hours
nests,
seal
produces
in
its
ma-
be the rules regarding the
we
find that the race of Pelo-
many absent-minded
paeus
and
It is these
wasps, that
carefully constructing their
them up empty,
spiders or to lay the egg.
271
forgetting to put in the
AND SOLITARY
WASPS, SOCIAL
When an
a
cell is sealed,
interest in
it,
the mother
but she has done
wasp ceases
all
that
is
to take
necessary.
In two or three days the egg hatches, after which the larva spends ten or fifteen days in eating, spins
cocoon.
its
few weeks,
Here
and then
remains, perhaps for only a
it
for there are
two or three generations
in
or perhaps through the long months of
one season, winter.
Fabre gives a most entertaining account of a French species of Pelopaeus
which nests
wide-mouthed
in the
Undisturbed by the steam
chimneys of the peasant. of washing
day or the bustle of dinner-getting, the wasp
enters the
open door, passes unconcerned among the
human smoky
moment
of capture,
in proportion to the nicety with
He
her sting.
says, however,
against the
cells
This species
by which act
who
in the estimation of Fabre,
falls
wasp
and makes her
bricks, out of reach of the flames.
her prey at the
kills
she
inhabitants,
respects a
which she delivers
that at least she follows
a logical method in turning to account these spiders,
menaced with
early decay.
multiplied in each the larva speedily
;
is
cell.
In the
The
first
place the prey
piece actually attacked by
soon a disorganized mass,
but
it is
small and
is
is
likely to
decay
consumed before decom-
position can advance, for when a larva once attacks a
272
WORKERS spider
it
does not leave
it
IN CLAY The
for another.
remain intact, which is enough the short period of larval
life.
the prey consists of a single large piece, that the organic art
must
inspired to take
is
egg, moreover,
brought
in,
is
it
necessary
should be maintained, and a special
be observed in eating
also
that Pelopaeus
The
life
others then
keep them fresh during When, on the contrary,
to
is
it.
It is well
then
numerous small pieces.
always placed on the
whether the storing of the nest
first
is
spider
completed
within a few hours, or whether, as in some cases, occupies several days; and this
M. Fabre
it
considers a
very happy arrangement.
The French point.
many
Ours
Pelopaei differ
kill
from ours
only about two thirds of their victims,
of the others being paralyzed so perfectly that
they live for two or three weeks. of placing the egg lay
it
at nearly every
upon the
difference
is
upon the
last
first
Again, ours, instead
spider, almost invariably
one brought
in.
Another point of
that our larvae frequently start in
up
the soft abdomens, like children
the
plums
who
by eating
first
devour
in their pudding, returning later to the tough
parts that are
left,
a rash and reprehensible course of
action of which their better-taught French cousins are
never guilty.
When
one comes to compare the two
sets
of facts furnished by the two groups of species, the
273
AND SOLITARY
WASPS, SOCIAL
deductions which Fabre has drawn as to the importance of the instincts of the French group are seen to be un-
The American
founded. principle
and
species violate nearly every
which he considers necessary
yet they flourish
to their existence,
For our part we
and multiply.
find nothing in the actions of Pelopaeus that needs to
be explained
nothing that
is
not well adapted to the
conditions under which each species works. sure of praise or
depredators
is
The mea-
blame which we mete out
merely a
way
of saying
to these
whether we would
or would not follow their methods in provisioning our
houses and rearing our children.
Perhaps we would
always use large spiders and would always have them fresh; but is
it is
evident that tastes differ, and the matter
so purely a subjective affair that
unsettled.
it
will
have
to
go
In any event, whether her victims be strong
or feeble, old or young, big or
little,
fresh or dry, they
certainly serve admirably in enabling Pelopaeus to rear
brood after brood, and
to people the different parts of
the earth with abundant representatives of her kind.
Chapter XII SENSE OF DIRECTION
WE
once made a number of experiments to
cover in what
to the nest
way
the social wasps
on returning from
dis-
came back
their hunting expeditions.
Were they endowed with some innate power which made memory of places unnecessary, and enabled them any point they wished
to fly in a straight line to
or did their return depend place
method
to reach,
upon the more common-
remembering the appearance
of
of the
countryside ?
One morning
we placed a wasp a yellow- jacket hole that had
at half past eight,
cage over the opening of
been closed since the night before, and caught five
workers, after
which the nest was again
of us taking the cage out
remained
to
watch
on
fifty-
closed,
one
to the lake, while the other
for their return.
At seven minutes before
nine, twenty of the
wasps
were liberated an eighth of a mile from shore near the
end of the
island.
All,
without exception, flew toward 275
WASPS, SOCIAL the island and
away from
AND SOLITARY Whether they setThe boat was then
the nest.
could not be determined.
tled
moved an
eighth of a mile beyond the island to the
north, where, at ten minutes after nine, the remaining
wasps were
and flew
fused,
They seemed a good
set free.
in all directions.
Many
returned to the
boat and alighted, but soon flew away again. settled
on the boat were knocked
deal con-
Two
that
into the water; but
they instantly rose and circled up into the air until out of sight.
Of
the fifty-five wasps that
we
set free, thirty-nine
returned to the nest by ten o'clock, five of them belonging to the lot that flew to the island, since they soon
found their bearings and came directly home, reaching the nest before the wasps of the second lot were liberated.
Of ond
the thirty-five wasps that were set free at the sec-
point, at least twenty started in
Adding these
to the
first
teen that appeared to
twenty,
wrong
we have
know where
directions.
left
only
fif-
to look for their
home, and yet thirty-nine reached the nest
more than an hour from the time the
first
in a little
wasps were
set free.
On
another morning
and took them
we caught
to a boat-house
in the second story of
thirty- eight
workers
on the shore of the
lake,
which was a large room with two 276
SENSE OF DIRECTION good-sized windows; one looked west over the lake and
away from
the nest, the other east toward the nest,
both were wide open. but the other was
and
The west window was the brighter,
light,
the sun being on that side of the
house.
We
placed the cage in the middle of this room and
opened the door, stationing ourselves well so as not to interfere with the
They came flying,
movements
out very naturally, pausing a
one side
of the wasps.
moment
and followed each other so slowly
easily see
to
that
which window they went out by.
before
we could Twenty-
two flew through the west window away from the
and sixteen through the
toward the
east
nest,
nest.
At another time we took fourteen wasps from the nest of a different species
and carried them seventy-
The
three yards to the southeast. that they could
they
all
fly
cage was opened so
out in any direction they chose, and
started in a straight line for the nest.
Later on
same day, we took forty-five from this nest, and set them free one hundred and seventy-six yards to the the
south.
Seven flew north toward the
south, eight west, circled
nest,
twenty-one
east, while the other two
and seven
around as they rose higher and higher,
they were lost to view.
None
in this
to take a fresh start.
277
until
experiment returned
WASPS, SOCIAL Again,
we took
AND SOLITARY
twenty-three wasps three hundred
yards southeast of the nest and liberated them in an field
nest,
seven west or
;
away from the northwest toward the nest, and four
thirteen flew east or south
open
returned to the starting-place and seemed unwilling to
venture out again.
These observations show that the two
species
of
wasps with which we experimented have no sense of direction in the
form of a mysterious additional
sense,
nor yet in the form of a power by which they keep a
and changes
register of the turns
thus able to retrace their way.
and are
in a journey
Our
cage was of wire,
and so open -that they could see all about, as we carried them from place to place; yet when they flew out, they most frequently started a point that
we had
in a
wrong
not passed.
direction
In
and toward
many
instances,
however, these wasps returned to the nest, and
it
seems
highly probable that as they rose higher and higher into as they went, they discovered
some
lofty
treetop or other object that had before served
them
as a
the
air, circling
way they were able to make Bee-keepers know that if young
landmark, and that in their
way home.
this
workers which, in strong hives, pass the
first
ten or
fifteen days of their lives in feeding the larvae without
going abroad, are taken out and set free only a short
278
SENSE OF DIRECTION distance from home, they are unable to find their
back, and
the nursing stage
may be
way
perish, while those that have passed beyond
and have begun
carried long distances
do outside work
to
away and
still
readily
regain the nest.
With the
solitary
from the other end.
wasps we attacked the problem
We observed what the
did in attempting to return to the nest taries,
we watched them when,
they prepared
woods
to leave
social
wasps
with the
;
making the
after
soli-
nest,
to go out into the fields or
it
in search of food or prey, thinking that the pro-
cedure of different species under these circumstances
would afford a clue to find their
pended
to the faculty
way
about.
upon which they
If they
de-
were furnished
with an innate sense of direction they would not need to
make
find the it
a study of the locality of the nest in order to
way back, but
if
they were without this sense
would be only common prudence
to
account of their bearings before going far
The
sight of a bee or a
from some certainty,
How
to its
home
far distant spot, without hesitation or un-
is
indeed marvelous.
Ammophila perform der.
wasp returning
take a good afield.
was
it
all directions, far
this feat
When we saw
we were
possible for her to
filled
first
with won-
hunt for hours, in
and wide, and then return 279
our
in a direct
AND SOLITARY
WASPS, SOCIAL line to
a nest which had been so carefully covered over
that every trace of
To
say that she
its
existence
was
obliterated
?
a creature of instinct, however,
is
is
not quite fair to her ladyship's intelligence, as a better
acquaintance with her would prove.
much
In reading
popular natural history one might suppose that the sects seen flying
about on a summer's day were a part of
some great throng which that
in-
moving onward, those are here to-day being replaced by a new set on the
morrow.
Except during certain seasons the exact op-
posite of this in the
ever
is
same
is
locality
restricted area.
The
true.
flying things
and are the inhabitants
The garden home of
in
to a large extent, the
tain species of
the case of an
of a fairly
which we worked was,
a limited
number
of cer-
wasps that had resided there from
or having found the place accidentally,
permanently.
about us abide
To make
this
had
matter clear
individual of A. urnaria.
birth,
settled there
let
us suppose
In June she
spent her time in sipping nectar from the onion flowers or from the sorrel that grew on the border of the garden.
In July came the days of her courtship and honey-
moon, and these too were passed flower,
in going
from one part of the garden
from flower
to another.
Many
to
a
day we have followed her when she flew from blossom to
blossom along a row of bean plants, turning, when 280
SENSE OF DIRECTION she reached the end, and wending her
back along the next row. see her running over the
Then comes
way
leisurely
a day
when we
ground and looking carefully
under the weeds for a good nesting-place. At is
and she begins
selected
work
before the
When
flight.
is
it
to dig
;
last
a spot
but two or three times
completed she goes away for a short
is
done, and covered over, she
flies
away, but returns again and again within the next few hours, to look at the spot and, perhaps, to little
alteration in her arrangements.
until the visits
are stored
caterpillars
From
this
and the egg
time on, laid,
she
her nest several times a day, so that she becomes
perfectly familiar with the neighborhood, surprising, after
all,
that she
from any point in her
we
to her hole
some
invariably
made
make some
a
little
is
and
it
is
not
able to carry her prey
territory in a nearly direct line
say nearly direct, for there was almost slight
mistake in the direction which
looking about necessary before the exact
spot was found.
After days passed in flying about the garden
up Bean
Street
time again
going
and down Onion Avenue, time and
one would think that any formal study
of the precise locality of a nest might be omitted; but it
was not so with our wasps.
and detailed studies
They made
repeated
of the surroundings of their nests.
281
WASPS, SOCIAL
AND SOLITARY
Moreover, when their prey was laid down for a moment
on the way home, they
felt
the necessity of noting the
place carefully before leaving
Of
it.
the species that catch their prey before
the nest
we have good examples and
tatus, the tornado wasp,
in
making
Pompilus quinqueno-
fuscipennis, the
Pompilus
with the red girdle.
The tornado wasp may make one
to ten feet
her nest anywhere from
from the spot on which she has deposited
her spider, while fuscipennis never goes more than fourteen inches away.
During the process of excavation
both of these wasps pay several
visits to
the spider,
frequently they have difficulty in finding
ample of
this
it.
As an
and ex-
kind of trouble we give a diagram of the
course followed by an individual of fuscipennis after
she had finished her nest, in trying to find her spider
and
in bringing
it
This and the other similar
home.
diagrams that are given are reductions of large tracings that were
made on
the spot.
correct they are exact
since wherever there
direction of
making shorter and appear
The
enough is
for all practical purposes,
an error
it is
necessarily in the
the path pursued
complex than
less
lay
by the wasp it
really was.
had placed her spider on a on the ground, not hidden by
individual in question
cucumber vine which
Although not absolutely
282
SENSE OF DIRECTION leaves, but fully
The
exposed to view.
when
eight inches away, but
was
it
was only
nest
finished
and the
COURSE FOLLOWED BY POMPILUS FUSCIPENNIS IN
HER SPIDER AND
FINDING
RETRACING HER STEPS TO THE NEST
wasp went
to bring the spider, she
a search of three minutes 1
The
ground
nest being completed, the as indicated
by the
it
it
upon a
to the nest.
283
it
only after
wasp went skimming over the the spider, which leaf,
some distance beyond the nest
place she took
1
and then when she went
line, until
ously been stung and placed
dragged
;
found
IN
was found.
to the point
2,
had
previ-
She then from which
AND SOLITARY
WASPS, SOCIAL back
passed to one side and went
to the nest she at first
some inches beyond,
had
so that she
her
to retrace
steps.
Marchal notes that some wasps are very in finding their
way
about, showing by their errors and
hesitations not only that they have
no sense of
but that they are badly served by their
what senses they have. his
own
He
draws
Pompilus seriaceus, which in the walls of the rustic
direction,
memory and by
this conclusion
observations, one of which
for a laboratory.
unskillful
had
for
its
from
subject
nests, conveniently for
him,
summer-house which he uses
A wasp of
this species,
having caught
her spider, had a most wearisome experience in getting to the nest,
it
which had been previously excavated near She
the ground.
first
carried
it
straight up, not only
passing the opening, but going to the very top of the Realizing that she had gone wrong, she laid
wall.
down, and the right
after
and
it
a prolonged hunt up and down, to
to the left,
found the nest
;
but on leav-
again to go for the spider, she started in exactly
ing
it
the
wrong
direction,
forty minutes for spider
and
down
instead of up;
had been spent
and not
until
in searching alternately
for nest did she finally bring the
two
together.
The
best evidence that wasps depend
284
upon a know-
SENSE OF DIRECTION ledge of the place in returning to their nests the pains they take
to.
is
given by
acquire that knowledge.
Sphex ichneumonea was ready
When
to dig her nest, she
great difficulty in finding a place that suited her.
had
Many
a spot was merely looked at and passed by, while others that
seemed more
were
attractive
been excavated for a
little
way.
left
At
after they
last,
had
the nest dug,
she was ready to go out and seek for her store of pro-
and now came a most thorough and systematic study of the surroundings. The nests that had been partly made and then deserted had been left without visions
any
;
circling.
Evidently she was conscious of the
ence and meant, now, to take
She flew
against losing her way. plants, first in
narrow
all
circles
ground, and
now
higher in the
air, until at last
in wider
differ-
necessary precautions in
and out among the
near the surface of the
and wider ones as she rose she took a straight line and
disappeared in the distance.
Very
often, after
one
thorough study of the topography of her home has been
made, a wasp goes away a second time with much circling or with If the
none
at
less
all.
examination of the objects about the nest
makes no impression upon the wasp, or
if it is
not re-
membered, she ought not to be inconvenienced nor thrown off her track when weeds and stones are removed 285
AND SOLITARY
WASPS, SOCIAL and the surface
her
ground
what happens.
this is just lost
of the
it,
fasciatus entirely
off the leaf that
without trouble,
when
covered
the missing
All of the species of Cerceris were
object was replaced. if
extremely annoyed
smoothed over; but
Aporus
way when we broke
her nest, but found
is
their nesting-places.
we placed any new object near One Ammophila refused to make we had drawn some deep lines The same annoyance is exhibited
use of her burrow after in the dust before
when
there
is
it.
any change made near the spot upon
which the prey of the wasp, whatever it may be, is deposited temporarily. We learned from experience how important
was not
it
on such occasions.
to disarrange the grass or plants
The wasps
are in
many
cases so
prudent as to conceal their booty among the leaves and ;
this
made
it
very inconvenient to keep our eyes upon
the captured prey, as to follow
on
it
was
quite necessary
To
its travels.
if
we wished
avoid the discomfort of
lying on the ground or of twisting the neck at some impossible angle for half an hour at a time, we sometimes
gently
moved
even such a tience, as it
it
the intercepting objects to one side
slight
;
but
change cost us dear in time and pa-
threw the wasp out of her bearings and made
difficult for
her to recover her treasure.
one exceedingly
warm day
in
286
We
recall
September when we were
SENSE OF DIRECTION delayed in this
when
for forty minutes,
way
she would
have seized the spider and gone on her way without a pause had we not interfered.
Very often the wind would shake the plant so that the spider or caterpillar would fall to the ground. Under
wasp was not at all disconcerted, but, on not finding her prey where she had left it, dropped
these circumstances the
at
once to where
it
was
This
lying.
extension of their ordinary habits. spiders learns to follow
A
wasp
that takes
them as they drop from the web
In
on being disturbed.
probably only an
is
this they are evidently
guided
by sight, but perhaps they are also aided by the sense of smell
under other conditions,
of recognizing the place
With
so
much
selection
to build
may have
a long time over
unknown
sense
of the daily
life
upon which
upon,
it is
their prey has lain.
easy to see
perfected the habit.
details,
is
to the extent, at least,
but
we
how
natural
We are delaying
feel that to
invoke an
permissible only after a careful study
of the animals in question has left the
problem unsolved.
Among
the wasps that
first
make
provision the larder, Astata bicolor interesting.
is
and then
one of the most
She makes a permanent abiding-place,
and probably uses is
the nest
it
until all of her eggs are laid.
evident that since she comes and goes
287
many
It
times
AND SOLITARY
WASPS, SOCIAL
during the several weeks of her occupation, she does not need to
make
a prolonged study of the environment
at every departure. is
completed,
when
she
is
first
Her
first
survey, just after the nest
most thorough; and, as a usual
thing,
comes out on each succeeding morning,
she reviews the situation more or less carefully. viduals differ in this respect, however, their local habitat
much more than
Indi-
some studying In
others.
this as
well as in all other matters
our
observations
are in complete accord
with those of Sir John
Lubbock,
who
"Indeed,
many
experiences
says
:
of
my
seem
to
show not only a
differ-
ence of character in the LOCALITY STUDY OF ASTATA BICOLOR
different species of ants,
but that even within the limits of the same species 1
The wasp
then to
2,
flew
from nest
to
I,
paused a moment, then flew back;
paused and flew back then to ;
and flew back to nest and flew back
;
flew to 4,
5, 6, 7, 8,
paused, then to 9,
pausing
at
to nest along 10; flew, successively, along
13, resting at the spots designated;
in direction of
3,
and
from 13 she
arrow points and departed.
288
circled
4,
paused
each spot,
n,
12
and
around nest
SENSE OF DIRECTION there are individual differences between ants, just as 1
between men."
This
little
bug-hunting Astata bicolor
study in a different first
made her
way from Sphex ichneumonea. She
flew from the nest
to a spot
near by and
settled there, returning,
after a
moment,
nest, or
else
to the
flying to
another resting-place. After
pausing
number
of
a
in
places (in
the case of the one fol-
lowed in the diagram, thirteen),
she finished
by a rapid zigzag
LOCALITY STUDY OF ASTATA UNI-
flight.
COLOR 2
Another wasp of
this
from bicolor in not returning genus, unicolor, differed the
to
1
2
nest
Ants, Bees,
from the and Wasps,
The continuous
line
different resting-places,
and
in
p. 95.
shows the course walked over by the
wasp, the short marks at right angles representing resting-places; the broken line indicates
flight.
Line
i
shows the
first
study, lead-
line 2 the second, ending in flight and ing back to the nest, and
departure.
289
WASPS, SOCIAL
AND SOLITARY
walking from one to another of them instead of although the
last part of the
study was
flying,
made on
the
wing. Cerceris deserta
was one
strongly to our presence,
of the
and she
of fuss about leaving her nest. circle
before
wasps that objected
also
made
Nearly
a great deal
all
the species
leaving a spot to which they intend to
return, but deserta begins her flight with a series of
SECOND LOCALITY STUDY OF
A.
UNICOLOR
!
short zigzags in the form of a half circle on one side of the nest.
C. nigrescens, too, begins with semicircles,
while C. clypeata 1
The continuous
the short
marks
flies
line
entirely
around and around the
shows the course walked over by the wasp
at a right angle indicate resting-places
line indicates flight.
290
;
;
the broken
SENSE OF DIRECTION opening.
The
contrast between the deliberate
ments of Astata and the rapid
move-
flight of Cerceris is
very
striking.
We
have now given a
sufficient
from widely separated genera,
to
number
of instances,
show the care
that
is
taken by wasps to acquaint themselves with the surroundings of their nests.
It
has also been shown that
in spite of all this care they frequently
rinding their
way
about.
have trouble in
All these facts have led us to
conclude that wasps are guided in their their
memory
of localities.
movements by
They go from
place to place
quite readily because they are familiar with the details of the landscape in the district they inhabit. sight all
and a moderately good memory on
that need be
the problem.
assumed
Fair eye-
their part are
in this simple explanation of
Chapter XIII INSTINCT AND INTELLIGENCE
OUR
study of the activities of wasps has satisfied
us that
The
simple way.
and ants were tenable,
view.
it is
all
impracticable to classify them in any
old notion that the acts of bees, wasps,
varying forms of instinct
and must give way
It
would appear
to
is
no longer
a more philosophical
to
be quite certain that there
are not only instinctive acts but acts of intelligence as well,
due
and a
third variety also
to imitation, although
telligence ficult to
accompanies
determine.
one species
may be
this imitation is
amount
dividuals
such of
of
difficulty in
wasps
admittedly
intelligent in another, is
dif-
same
and we may
a considerable variation in
of intelligence displayed
the
little in-
Again, acts that are instinctive in
even assert that there the
acts that are probably
whether much or
species.
We
by
different in-
have met with
our attempts to arrange the
in different groups that
we
activities
are forced to the
conclusion that any scheme of classification
is
merely
a convenience, useful for purposes of study or generali292
INSTINCT AND INTELLIGENCE zation, but not to be taken for
pression of
all
the facts.
This kind of perplexity
understood and allowed for in but
it
The
an absolutely true is
ex-
well
morphological work,
all
has never been fully realized in the study of habits.
explanation
The
not far to seek.
is
habits of but
few animals have been studied in
sufficient detail to
bring out the evidence that there
as
on the psychological although this
field
as
is
much
variation
on the morphological
side,
seems fresh and inviting when com-
pared with the researches of the laboratory.
The
necessity of interpreting the actions of animals
in terms of our us.
To
own
interpret
consciousness must be always with
them
at all
we must
consider what our
own mental states would be under similar circumstances, our safeguard being to keep always before us the pro-
weakening of the evidence as we apply it to animals whose structure is less and less like our own.
gressive
We
arrange the
activities of the
wasps that we have
studied into two groups, Instincts, and Acts of Intelligence,
it
being understood that these classes pass by
insensible stages into each other,
are purely instinctive are probably in experience. is
In
and that
when performed
acts that
for the first time
some degree modified by individual
this classification the question of origin
not considered.
The
facts are
293
grouped under the
WASPS, SOCIAL
AND SOLITARY
two heads, the inferences that they warrant being
Under
for later consideration.
place
all
complex
acts that are
left
we
the term Instinct
performed previous to
experience and in a similar manner by all members the same sex and race, leaving out as non-essential, this time, the question of
Under
Intelligence
place those conscious actions which are
an
at
whether they are or are not
accompanied by consciousness.
modifiable by experience.
of
It is
this
more or
we less
that enables
power
to decline to
insect to seek, accept, refuse, choose,
make
use of this or to turn to account some other thing.
Many
writers prefer the term Adaptation for these ac-
tivities,
and
it
definitions in
possesses certain advantages.
mind,
let
With
these
us group the activities of wasps
under the two heads.
With sent
the wasps of the genus Pelopaeus
we were
pre-
on several occasions when the young emerged from
pupa case and gnawed their way out of the mud cell. They were limp, and their wings had not perfectly the
hardened, and yet
when we touched them they
tried to
attack us, thrusting out the sting and moving the abdo-
men about
in various directions.
These movements
were well directed, and, so far as we could observe, quite as perfect as in the adult wasp. is
an
instinctive act.
294
Stinging, then,
INSTINCT AND INTELLIGENCE The
particular
method
of attack
by each species in securing
ticed
its
and capture pracprey
is
instinctive.
Ammophila pricks a number of ganglia
along the ventral face of the
caterpillar;
the spider
stabs
we
Pelopaeus,
in the
believe,
cephalo-
thorax, and probably the several species of Pompilus do the same.
Astata bicolor adopts the same tactics in is
capturing her bugs, while
it
said of the flycatchers that they
commonly overcome
their victims
without using the sting. too, that these
stinct,
their
proper
worms, flies,
food
another
It is
by
wasps take
supply,
spiders,
moths., or beetles.
in-
a
one PARALYZED third
So Strong
SPIDER
HUNG
UP ON SORREL BY QUIN-
QUENOTATUS WHILE SHE
HER NEST
DIGS
and deeply seated is the preference, that no fly robber ever takes spiders, nor will the ravisher of the spiders change to beetles or bugs.
The mode
of carrying their booty
is
a true instinct.
Pompilus takes hold of her spider anywhere, but always drags
it
over the ground, walking backward; Oxybelus
clasps her fly with the hind legs, while
Bembex
uses the
second pair to hold hers tightly against the under side 295
AND SOLITARY
WASPS, SOCIAL Each works
of her thorax. in a
that
way The capturing
the hole
is
is
after her
own
of the victim
made, as
and caring
for
Bembex, and
also the
Ammophila,
others, of preparing the nest before the is
way
secured,
in
is
certainly instinctive
For example,
before dragging is
it
in.
Under natural
mands.
Again,
we
see
nest while on the wing,
of the species,
when
and entering
occasion de-
is
characteristic
and would be an important part
upon
its
of
any
habits.
general style of the nest depends upon instinct.
Trypoxylon uses hollow passages
in trees, posts, straws,
or brick walls; Diodontus americanus, a
bex,
right
once with the
at
Each way
definition of the animal based
same
all is
conditions this
Oxybelus scratching open her
held tightly in her legs.
The
S. ichneu-
never varied, although the wasp can adapt
herself to different circumstances
fly
is
after
places her grasshopper just at the entrance to
the excavation, and then enters to see that
order
as
;
which some of these wasps act
bringing the prey to the nest.
monea
before
it
in the case of P. quinquenotatus, or
the reverse method, pursued by Astata,
food supply
and
fashion,
uniform for each species.
member
family, always burrows in the ground, as
Ammophila, and Sphex. In the case
the passage
may be
ready for use or
296
of
may
of the
do Bem-
Trypoxylon
require
more
INSTINCT AND INTELLIGENCE or less preparation
;
the instinctive part
is
the impulse
that requires the insect to use a certain kind of habi-
Any one
tation.
familiar with T. rubrocinctum
would
never look for her nest in standing stems or under stones; to use to bet
Mr. Morgan's
on the general
test,
he would be willing
style of the dwelling-place.
All of
these acts are similarly performed by individuals of the
same sex and in the
race, not in circumstantial detail but quite
same way
in a
broad sense. Variation
is
always
present, but the tendency to depart from a certain type
not excessive.
is
this style of
In Cerceris the burrow
work being common
genus, and very characteristic.
to
many
No
phila constructs any such tunnel. all
the
tecture
The
members is,
then,
is
tortuous,
species in the
Sphex nor
Ammo-
The adherence
of
of a species to a certain style of archi-
due
to instinct.
spinning of the cocoon, in those species in which
the larva
is
instinctive.
protected in this manner, and
We
its
shape, are
find that closely allied species in the
same genus make very different cocoons, as is seen in T. rubrocinctum and T. bidentatum. Some wasps spin It is a well-known no such covering for themselves. fact that silkworms sometimes omit the spinning of a
cocoon
;
but this does not affect the argument, since
the descendants of these individuals
297
make
the charac-
WASPS, SOCIAL teristic covering.
AND SOLITARY
Such cases are probably due
to indi-
vidual variation or perhaps to atavism, this throwing
back being not uncommon among forms that are well
known.
Not
of the instinctive acts here
all
enumerated are
displayed by each species studied, although they are
common to most some
of them.
activities that
We have doubtless overlooked
should come under this head, as
made a thorough study of any sufficient species to make a final settlement of the
we have
not
number
of
matter.
As we have seen with Ammophila and faults of instinct are not
uncommon, but
the one that shows the greatest aberrations
The sandy beach
biguttatus.
of
Pelopaeus,
of all our is
Lake Michigan
favorite nesting-ground with this species, and
scene of cipled
is
is
a
the
a bold robbery, since they are unprin-
many
little
wasps
Pompilus
wretches and
"...
the good old rule
Sufficeth them, the simple plan
That they should take who have the power
And
We
they should keep
who
can."
once found an unusually tiny biguttatus vainly
trying to drag a large Epeirid which her sting
duced
to helplessness.
It
was as though a 298
had
re-
feeble child
INSTINCT AND INTELLIGENCE should try to
move
the body of an elephant.
The
little
wasp clasped one of the spider's legs firmly in her mandibles, and then with braced feet and the wildest flutter
made
of wings
gallant but futile attempts to get
it
Now she lost her hold on the ground, and wings legs were all whirling desperately in the air. Now
started.
and
her feet grasped a loose ball of earth, and, feeling that
something was moving, she renewed her pellet
was drawn nearer and began
The
efforts.
to rotate
around
the wasp, while she seemed to be under the impression that she
was moving forward.
After a few minutes of
vigorous exercise, she paused, perhaps to see
was getting that
when
on,
and the
the attack
bit of earth rolled
was renewed,
discouraging conditions.
it
how
she
away; so
was under the old
She was the impersonation of
perseverance and energy; but after half an hour (no
one knows how long she had been she gave
away.
It
it
up, and with
many
at
it
before
we came)
reluctant circlings flew
was probably experiences
of this kind that
developed in some of her relatives the habit of digging the grave under the victim,
and thus saving the trouble
of transportation.
At another time, we saw a biguttatus trying
backward with a lifted
little bit
of a spider,
to
run
which she had
from the ground and was carrying
in her
man
299
\
AND SOLITARY
WASPS, SOCIAL
dibles,-- trying to run backward, because
with this genus to move in that with a load,
it
backward, although in while she
felt
way when encumbered
The wasp in question Instinct made her go
series of
this particular case
it
was need-
a constant desire to turn and go
As a
straight ahead.
sand in a
the rule
being easier to drag a heavy spider than
to pick it up and go forward. was drawn in two directions.
less,
it is
result she waltzed slowly over the
overlapping
circles,
her head turned
toward every point of the compass in succession, a kind of progress
most amusing
Biguttatus
but
it is
to the lookers-on.
not strong enough to
is
fly
when
the top of every obstacle in the path,
and from
vantage point to gain time by taking a downward in the direction of the nest. tall,
laden,
the habit of the species to climb backwards to
It is
this
flight
only in the case of
smooth-stemmed plants and grasses that the ad-
vantage gained
is
enough
to repay the trouble of climbing,
and we have often thought that the notion costs the wasp more trouble than it is worth, as was certainly the case with one comical the extreme of
little
folly.
creature that carried the idea to
Not only did she
her way, but just as old Dr. Johnson to
scale objects in felt
that he
had
touch every tree and post as he walked along, so
when
this
wasp saw, out
of the corner of her eye, a
300
INSTINCT AND INTELLIGENCE stone or a plant three or four inches to one side,
upon her
to climb,
and climb she
obviously more
than of
intelligence
called
was
did, although she
obliged to leave her proper path to do It is
it
it.
difficult to distinguish actions of
instinct.
One must be
familiar with
the normal conditions of the insects in question before
he
is
able to note those slight changes in the environ-
ment that
means
offer
some opportunity
to ends, or before
periments which will
We
find
two
he
is
test their
for
an adaptation of
competent
powers in
to devise ex-
this direction.
classes of intelligent actions
Hymenoptera which are
among
sufficiently distinct to
sidered separately, although, like
they grade into each other.
The
natural groups,
all
first
the
be con-
of these includes
those actions that are performed by large
numbers
in
a
similar fashion under like conditions, while in the sec-
ond
class
each act
is
an individual
single wasp, uninfluenced in
of those about
it,
affair,
any way
as where a
by the example
displays unusual intelligence in grap-
pling with the affairs of
life.
Examples
of the
first
are found in such modifications of instinct as are
by Pelopaeus and other wasps habitations. trees or
class
shown
in the character of their
Pelopaeus, instead of
building in hollow
under shelving rocks, as was the ancient custom
of the race,
now
nests in chimneys, or under the eaves
301
WASPS, SOCIAL
We
of buildings.
AND SOLITARY
have found T. rubrocinctum taking
advantage of the face of a straw-stack that had been cut off smoothly as the cattle were fed through the winter.
The same power
of adaptation
shown by Fabre's
is
experiment with Osmia, in which he took two dozen nests in shells
from a quarry, where the bees had been
nesting for centuries, and placed
them
in his study
along with some empty shells and some hollow stems.
When them
came
the bees
out, in the spring, nearly all of
selected the stalks to build in as being better suited
to their use
than the
intelligent adaptations
to
keep the species in
The same
All of these changes are
shells.
new modes
to
harmony with
of
its
life,
serving
surroundings.
may
be seen when a number of social
wasps work together
to replace the roof of their nest
when
An
it
thing
has been torn
off.
instance of the second class
examples of
is
Pompilus marginatus.
searching for a nesting-place, leaves the ground or hides of
it
;
the
of her tribe
hanging
it
wasp by
its
species, while
spider lying on
under a lump of earth,
which positions the booty
of ants
seen in one of our
This
in question
is
in either
subject to the attacks
improved upon the custom
up into a plant and have now and then seen a queen
carrying the spider
there.
We
of Polistes fusca occupy a
comb
302
of the previous year
INSTINCT AND INTELLIGENCE instead of building a
new one
equipment than her
better mental
showing a
for herself, sisters
who were
not
strong-minded enough to change their ways, and so built
new in
which were
nests alongside of unoccupied old ones
good condition.
Bembex
In
it is
society
good form
to close the door on leaving home, but sometimes a
wasp
will save is
however,
time by leaving the entrance open. This,
a doubtful case, as the advantage would,
perhaps, be more than balanced by the exposure of the nest to parasites.
Some
years after our
scelestuswe saw a wasp
home.
She dropped
meditatively,
first at
first
experience with Pompilus
of this species carrying her spider close to the nest,
it
and looked
the hole and then at the spider. It
was unquestionably going to be a very tight fit, but if she could get it in that would be an advantage; so after a
moment
she seized
backing down
it
by the
tried to pull
would not go down, and carried
it
blossoms.
and took
it
tip of the
after.
Tug
scelestus
to a place of safety
-
abdomen and -
pushed
tug it
I
No,
it
out and
up among some clover
She then washed and brushed herself neatly, several
little
w alks, r
so that
it
was
minutes before she began to enlarge her time she must have carried in her
little
fully fifteen
nest.
All that
scrap of a
mind
the idea of doing a necessary act which was outside of
303
WASPS, SOCIAL her ordinary routine
;
AND SOLITARY
and we noted with
interest that the
was made accomplished exactly what the spider went in, but not too easily.
change when
it
was needed,
In an experiment with a French Sphex which has
down
the habit of laying her cricket
and going Fabre
inside for
an instant before dragging
took advantage of the
was out
of sight
at the threshold,
below
to
tance, with the result that
moment
that the
left it
while she visited the interior of the nest.
repeated this
in,
wasp
move her prey to a little diswhen the wasp came up she
brought her cricket to the same spot and fore,
it
as be-
Since he
experiment about forty times and always
with the same
result,
it
seemed
clusion that nothing less
fair to
draw the con-
than the performance of a
certain series of acts in a certain order
would
satisfy
her impulse. She must place her prey just so close to the
doorway; she must then descend
and
after that
she must
at
to
once drag
examine the nest; it
down, any
dis-
turbance of this routine causing her to refuse to proceed.
We
once found a Sphex ichneumonea at work storing
her nest, and thought
it
would be
interesting to pursue
Fabre's method and find out whether she were equally persistent in following her regular routine.
We
allowed
her to carry in one grasshopper to establish her normal
method
of procedure,
and found
34
that, bringing
it
on the
INSTINCT AND INTELLIGENCE wing, she dropped nest, out
it
about
six inches
away, ran into the
again and over to the grasshopper, which she
straddled and carried by the head to the entrance.
She then ran down head
first,
turned around, came up,
by the head, pulled it within. On the following day, when she had brought a grasshopper to the entrance of the nest, and while she was below, we
and
moved
it
back
she carried
We
it
seizing
it
five or six inches.
When
she
came
out,
same spot and went down as before. again, with the same result, and the
to the
removed
it
performance was repeated a third and a fourth time, but the
fifth
had placed
time that she had found her prey where
it
she seized
ward dragged
On
it
down
it
by the head, and going back-
into the nest without pausing.
the next day the experiment
we had moved carried
it
we
the grasshopper
into the nest, going
w as r
After
repeated.
away four
times, she
head foremost.
On
the
fourth and last day of our experiment, she replaced the
grasshopper at the door of the nest and ran inside seven times, but then seized
ward.
How
shall
it
this
and dragged
it
in,
going back-
change in a long-established
custom be explained, except by saying that her
intelli-
gence led her to adapt herself to circumstances?
She
was enough of a conservative to prefer the old way, but was not such a slave to custom as to be unable to vary it. 305
WASPS, SOCIAL
AND SOLITARY
"It hath been an opinion," says Lord Bacon, "that the French are wiser than they seem, while the Spaniards
seem wiser than they to determine
are."
We
leave
it
to
our readers
whether the wasps are wiser than they
seem or seem wiser than they
are.
INDEX
INDEX AGENIA, mutilation
of
Thomas, on locality study of Polistes carnifex, 60. Bembex labiatus, note on locality sense by Bouvier, 124. rostrata, account of habits
Belt,
spiders,
243* 2 47-'
bombycina, 244.
Ammophila, 1 5 stinging habits of American and French species, ;
28
;
Fabre's conclusions
by Wesenberg, 139; note on locality sense by Marchand,
con-
trasted with ours, 52 sleeping habits noted by Banks, 1 1 7. over distance gracilis, great ;
which prey
is
46
carried,
;
125.
less spinolae, 119; S A.
;
of instinct, 46. -
numerous
progeny than other wasps, 120 habit of feeding young from
failure
quarrelsome day to day, 120 habits, 129; tolerance of paraof parasitic number sites, 132; larvae found in nests, 133; experiment to determine number of nests visited by female at one
polita, 50.
;
urnaria, 18; sense of locality,
20 individuality, 22; using a pebble as a tool, 38. vulgaris, losing her way, 46. yarrowii, Williston's notes on * ;
time, 139; teasing 262.
habits, 40.
Aphilanthops frigidus, 167;
los-
Tachysphex,
Bouvier, note on locality sense of
ing her way, 171; method of capturing queen ants uncertain,
Bembex
labiatus, 124.
Brehm, on mutilation of spiders habit of by Agenia punctata, 243. Aporus fasciatus, 80 Brues, on sleeping habits of Priofilling up partly made nests, close 82 packnonyx atrata, 118. depends upon ing to keep spider quiet, 83 contrast betw een two individ- Cerceris clypeata, 147 locality experiments on study, 149 uals, 84. Ash mead, W. H., on European stinging habits, 151. 174.
;
;
;
r
;
;
species of Oxybelus, 78. Astata bicolor, locality study, 288.
-deserta, 152; locality study, 153-
fumipennis, 142.
unicolor, locality study, 290.
nigrescens, 142. '
Banks,
Nathan, observation
sleeping habits of
on
Ceropales,
Ammophila,
117.
Bates, H. W., on habits of
following
Pompilus
scelestus, 231.
Chlorion coeruleum, 256.
Mone- Crabro
interruptus, 102; locality study, 105.
dula signata, 136.
39
INDEX Crabro lentus, 101 both flies and bugs found in nests, 101. sexmaculatus, 99 takes both ;
Odynerus perennis, 90.
;
and gnats,
flies
101.
106
stirpicola,
;
contrasted
with other wasps as to manner, 1 06; works night and day to finish nest, 108.
wesmasli, said to take both
and bugs,
flies
89.
reniformis, position of egg,
vagus, wanness, 94. Oxybelus quadrinotatus, 75; method of carrying fly, 80.
Passolocus annulatus, 87. Pelopaeus, 265 individuality, 270 ;
101.
271
forgetfulness,
;
;
difference
between French and American Dunning,
W., on finding
S.
alive in nests of
Bembex,
flies
135.*
species, 273.
Philanthus apivorus, sucks honey
from bee, Fabre,
H.,
on
automatically perfect instincts of Ammophila, on French species of 52 on the habits of Sphex, 69 on Philanthus Bembex, 134 162 on French apivorus, J.
;
;
;
;
ventilabris, 166.
;
;
species of Pelopaeus, 273.
162.
habits of punctatus, 1 54 experiments on colony, 1 56 stinging habits, 162; nesting habits of males, 166.
Plenolocus peckhamii, 95 invaded by bees and
;
stalk
other
wasps, 96.
Goureau, on mutilation of spiders by w asps, 244. r
Polistes
carnifex,
locality study
noted by Belt, 60. Pompilus biguttatus, unreasoning
Larra quebecensis, 263. Sir John, on individu-
conduct, 298.
ality in ants, 288. Lyroda subita, 253; feeds her young from day to day, 255.
ants, 219; biting legs of spider, 220 sense of locality, 221.
Marchal, Paul, on poor locality sense of Pompilus seriaceus,
nest, 229.
Lubbock,
fuscipennis, 216; ;
quinquenotatus, 197; confined to one species of spider, nest invaded by small 202
Marchand, observation on
Bembex
locality rostrata, 125.
;
202 hangs spider on plant while nest is being made, 204; robs her neighbors, 211: loses her way, 214. bites legs of scelestus, 230 ants,
Monedula
signata, locality study noted by Bates, 136. Mutilation of spiders by wasps, 243-
variation
in
anormis, position
sites,
of egg in
nest, 91.
capra, 94.
conformis, position of
egg,
230
;
pursued by para-
231 sleeping habits, 236. seriaceus, poor locality sense noted by Marchal, 284. subviolaceus, following sce-
nesting
habits, 95.
-
;
;
spider,
Odynerus,
of
marginatus, 221; capturing spider, 225; method of digging
284.
sense of
afraid
;
lestus, 236. atrata,
Priononyx
ing habits,
91.
310
1 1
8.
note on sleep-
INDEX Rhopalum
pedicellatum, 73 strong power of localization, ;
Trypoxylon, immense numbers of spiders destroyed, 195. -
albopilosum, 190. bidentatum, 194. rubrocinctum, 180;
73-
rubrocinctum, 74. Social wasps, general habits, 3 color sense, 5 sense of smell, 8 affecting plant distribution, 1 1 number in one nest, 12. Solitary wasps, general habits, 1 5. Sphex, habits noted by Fabre, ;
;
;
;
69.
ichneumonea, 56 nests begun and deserted, 56; locality
protec-
tion of nest
by male, 181
sometimes
assists
nest, 182; order in hatch, 1 80.
Vespa germanica,
in
;
male
storing
which eggs
13.
- maculata, 13.
;
study, 58
;
Tachysphex Tachytes
sp.
intelligence, 305. tarsata, 261. ?,
248.
peptonica, 252.
Wesenberg, on habits of Bembex rostrata, 139. Wheeler, W. M.,on capture of ants by Aphilanthops f rigidus, 1 76. Williston, S. W., on habits of
Ammophila
yarrowii, 40.
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