The daily morning journal and courier., 1901-08-31
MASON WASPS.

Perhaps the commonest of the mason wasps in the eastern states is the
 mud dauber, a beautiful, brown, slen- er-waisted insect with long, slender yellow legs, which in the summer time may be observed daily by any one liv-
 ing in the country Unlike the white
 faced hornets these creatures are soli-
 tary in their habits, and moreover each
 individal s ether perfect made or a
 perfect female; there are no "workers, ,"
 such as constitute the greater part of
 the population in the colonies of their
 paper making relatives. But, as in
 the case of the latter species, the males
 seem to be regarded merely as necessa-
 ry evils, and take no part in the build
 ing of the homes or in providing for the
 young.
 The home of the mud dauber is, as
 her name implies, made of wood, which
 she gathers from the shores of stag
 nant pools, open swamps and other
 convenient places 1 watched a num-
 Der of these wasps a short time ago, at
 work on the low bank of a river, from which great quantities of water htd re- gently been drawn, exposing two or three feet of warm, wet mud. Each in- dividual seemed intent on business, running about with an abrupt, jerky movement here, there and elsewhere continually flirting her narrow, >gauzy wings, and pausing after each forward rush, as though to critically examine the mud at that point Presently she seemed ito find just what she needed and began to cut away bit of the soft material with her jaws. In her enthu- siasm she stood on her head, apparent ly using that member as lever, to pry up the little pellet of mud The sight of fifty or more of these wasps all standing head downward, with their tails pointing to the sky suggested miniature garden of strange little plants. The head and tforax were the roots, with legs for rootletsi the long, slim waist was the stem, which SUD- ported large bud, represented by the spindle shaped body
 The veinexd wings, pointing upwards, one on each side had somewhat the appearance of leaves. Sometimes a wasp would work for some time at a bit 1f mud, and then for some reason aban- lon it, and begin workinfi in another place. Perhaps after loosening the first pellet she found it less suitable than it lad promised to be, and gave it up for better At any rate, by and ,y she would get her pellet all ready or transport ation She would then ;eize it in her jaws, wrap her front egs about it, and fly heavily away. The weight of the burden being all at me end, she flew with her body at an | Ingle of perhaps forty-five degrees, | lead down and tail up. Sometimes the | argo would prove too heavy, or the | wind too strong, and she would have to | light to rest for moment before pro- | eeding on her way.
 An ideal spot in which ta see q mud auber building, is in an old attic with {
 hole in the wndow Here, immediate V under the roof, it is hot and dry, and | he wasp huns merrily at her work. omet imes she chooses the inside of a ! arm shed. or if there are no buildings l bout, she seems contented to work ill ollow tree. When she has selected her estfng site. she builds against the wall r the roof an oblong or roughly ellipti- al cell of mud, using her mouth in