Chapter V
CRABRO
THE highest point of the island is crowned by a great group of linden trees; and one day their perfume, carried by the wind far over field and wood, was calling everything that had wings to gather the richest of all the gifts that July can offer. We, too, were drawn to the spot, and found the great blossoming domes thrilling and vibrating with life. For miles around, the bees, wasps, and butterflies had gathered to the feast; and we seemed to touch the high-tide of the year in the scent of the flowers, the humming throng of happy creatures, and the vision of it all 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, were sawing and cutting in the most humdrum and practical manner. One of them, presumably the earliest riser, was well down in the root, and came backing up once in a while, pushing a lot of wood dust out of the hole. This was spread out by means of legs and mandibles, and was then blown away by the fanning wings of the little worker, who circled about just above the ground until the last grain had disappeared. Here was another way of protecting the home. The fresh dust might attract the attention of some cuckoo-like insect who would lay her egg within; and therefore it was dispersed, just as Ammophila carried out her pellet and flung it to a distance, 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 away to hunt. We afterward found that she had finished the third in a set of cells leading from a main gallery. On her return we delayed her to see what she was carrying. She showed no fear, but alighted close by, and while she was trying to transfer to the third pair of legs the fly that she was clasping with the second pair, it escaped and flew gayly away. Flies are plenty, however, and she soon had another which she was permitted to store; 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. On opening her tunnel some days later, we found within not only flies, but long-bodied gnats, and all of them seemed to have been brought home uninjured. When the freshest cell 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 we could not be certain of the exact time of laying we thought it hatched at the end of thirty-six hours. From ten to sixteen flies were provided for each larva.
SEXMACULATUS IN THE LINDEN ROOTS