Shepherdstown register. [volume] (Shepherdstown, Va. [W. Va.]) 1849-1955, 1918-04-11
A Worker In Clay.

One has probably noticed around the
edge of mudholes or the margins Of
small streams where they cross a road
a long, slim-waisted, black-garbed
species working very industriously at
something. II you observe her very
closely, you will see that she is knead-
ing the clay into a small ball about the
size Of squirrel shot. After work
ing it into the desired size and shape,
she gathers it up in her mandibles, or
what in her family takes ths place OF
jaws or teeth, and away she flies as il
she had to complete a ten-hour job in
five short hours. If you follow, she
will lead you to some outbuilding or
shed. Crawling under the caves, she
selects some perfectly dry spot, some
place where the rain can never blow
in. Here she presses the well-kneaded
clay against the wood until it firmly
adheres; and Mrs. Mud Dauber has
laid the foundation Of her pebble dash
cottage.
Back and forth all day long, some
times even into the night, she labors
at fashioning pellets of clay for the
nursery under the caves. She is a
nonunion worker and does not object
TO putting in a few extra hours if the
occasion demands it. Out of the balls
of clay she forms small mud cell,
rough on the outside, but beautifully
smooth and polished within. Now
comes the exciting part. This cell
must be stocked with the proper kind
of food for the larva that is to live
there. In her hunt Mrs. Dauber pass
eS by without the slightest notice such
insect folks as flies, grasshopperS,
moths, beetles, and ants, dumpy round
bodied spiders are the game she is out
for, and nothing short of spiders will
fill the bill She can't be fooled with
something else "just as good" When
she finds spider that looks plump and
Juicy, she does not give time to say
goodbye to his family, but pounces on
the luckless spinner; and as he strug-
giles to escape, she injects into his body
some subtle fluid that only paralyzed.
This poison does not kill; but that is
small comfort to the spider, for he will
be eaten by the young of the mud wasp
before he ever wakes from his dream
less sleep.
AS the strange poison spreads
through the body of the spider, his
strugglesbecome feebler and feebler
and soon cease altogether, and he be-
comes a limp, inert little body in the
hands, or rather in the feet, Of Mrs.
Dauber. She picks him up with as lit
tie ceremony as one would pick up
sack Of wheat and hurries off to the
clay house under the caves There
the unresisting victim is pushed down
to the very bottom of the little cell. If
the first spider is not large enough to
fill the cavity. a smaller one is found
to take up the space.
Mrs. Dauber then lays one small egg
on top of the last spider, and the open
end of the cell is most carefully sealed
with clay. She works with the great
est attention to detail in fitting and
locking the front door of her little
larva CELL This first cell finished and
provisioned, she goes to work to build
another close beside it, stocks it with
scientifically embalmed spiders, de-
posits another egg, seals it up, and
two rooms in the pebble dash dwell
ings are complete. Thus she adds
cell after cell until the completed nest
takes on an oblong shape, measuring
three or four inches in length.
When the last egg is laid, the wasp
with scrupulous care goes over every
part of the work to make sure that no
detail has been neglected. She adds
little clay here, scrapes off a little
there, and winds up the whole job by
carefully brushing away with her
wings every particle of dust that has
fallen to the floor. so as to leave no
signs of recent work.
When she has satisfied her motherly
instincts that every duty has been
faithfully performed, she flies away
and leaves her babies to their fate,
which fate proves to be most pleasant
one. For, as soon as the young emerge
| from the she'll, here are Juicy spiders,
not dead and dry, but embalmed TO a
turn, waiting to be eaten. BY the time
this food supply is exhausted, the
larva, now fully grown, spins around
itself a beautifully slken cocoon.
Warmly wrapped in this downy cover
ing and protected by the clay walls OF
its cell, the larva sleeps through the
rains and SHOWS Of winter; and when
spring comes, with its birds and flow
ers, he breaks through the plaster walls
into the world of sunlight and air,
fully developed wasp OF the type that
rolls pellets Of clay on the margins Of
little streams and puts spiders to sleep