. Nature sketches in temperate America, a series of sketches and a popular account of insects, birds, and plants, treated from some aspects of their evolution and ecological relations . nce. On the fourteenth,near the noon hour, I was surprised by the appearance of theowner, a large orange-colored Sphex wasp. She had made herway along the ground unobserved and at first halted about threeinches from the opening of the burrow. She was in this positionwhen I first caught sight of her. At the same time she droppeda robust, green, meadow grasshopper, which she had been drag-ging along the ground. A
. Nature sketches in temperate America, a series of sketches and a popular account of insects, birds, and plants, treated from some aspects of their evolution and ecological relations . nce. On the fourteenth,near the noon hour, I was surprised by the appearance of theowner, a large orange-colored Sphex wasp. She had made herway along the ground unobserved and at first halted about threeinches from the opening of the burrow. She was in this positionwhen I first caught sight of her. At the same time she droppeda robust, green, meadow grasshopper, which she had been drag-ging along the ground. After discharging her burden she 196 NATURE SKETCHES IN TEMPERATE AMERICA flew up a little way above the ground, making a loud buzzingsound with her wings. She then turned about to examine thesurroundings and eyed me intently. Then alighting on theground again she went into the burrow. There she remainedonly long enough to make a hasty inspection of her under-ground nest, and presumably to see that everything was inreadiness for the further task she was about to perform. Itseemed but a few seconds before she backed out of theburrow. Then turning around, she seized the grasshopper. The Golden Wasp {Sphex ichneumonea) dragging its prey into the burrow. In this instance it is a green meadow grasshopper which has been captured. by the antennse close to the head, and dragged it into the hole,backing down with her charge (see text illustration). In halfa minute she again came out of the burrow, carrying a parcelof earth which she scattered behind her. After repeating thismanoeuvre several times she flew away. It was nearly an hour before this wasp returned again,bringing another grasshopper, seemingly the counterpart ofthe first. On leaving the spot for several minutes, I found onmy return that she had filled up the burrow to the level of theground and was busily putting on the finishing touches. Thelatter procedure seemed to be the most interesting part of herperformance. While I was
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1910, booksubjectbirds, booksubjectins
