[97] Reaumur Memoires pour l’Histoire des Insectes, tom. 6, par. 1, p. 122. The proceedings of the mason ichneumon wasp,[98] sphex, Linn. are totally different from those of the common wasp, though equally curious. It generally begins its work in May, and continues it for the greatest part of June. The true object of her labour seems to be the digging of a hole a few inches deep in the ground; yet in the constructing of this, she forms a hollow tube above ground, the base of which is the aperture of the hole, and which is raised as high above ground as the hole is deep below; it is formed with a great deal of care, resembling a gross kind of fillagree work, consisting of the sand drawn from the hole. The sand out of which she excavates her cell, is nearly as hard as a common stone; this it readily softens with a penetrating liquor with which she is well provided; a drop or two of it is imbibed immediately by the sand on which it falls, which is instantly rendered so soft, that she can separate and knead it with her teeth and fore feet, forming it into a small ball, which she places on the edge of the hole as the foundation stone of the pillar she is going to erect; the whole of it is formed of such balls, ranged circularly, and then placed one above the other. She leaves her work at intervals, probably in order to renew her stock of that liquor which is so necessary for her operations. These intervals are of short duration; she soon returns, and labours with so much activity and ardour, that in a few hours she will dig a hole two or three inches deep, and raise a hollow pillar two inches high. After the column has been raised a certain height perpendicular from the ground, it begins to curve a little, which curvature increases till it is finished, though the cylindrical form is maintained: she constructs several of these holes all of the same form, and for the same purpose. It is easy to see why the hole was dug in the ground; that it was destined to receive an egg; but it is not so easy to perceive why the tube of sand was formed. By attending to the labours of the wasp, one end, however, may be discovered; it will be found to serve the purpose of a scaffold, and that the balls are as useful to the wasp, as materials, &c. to the mason; and are therefore placed as much within her reach as possible. She uses them to stop and fill up the hole after she has deposited an egg therein, so that the pillar is then destroyed, and not the least remains left in the nest. The parent wasp generally leaves ten or twelve worms as provision necessary and proper for the growth of the young larva: no purveyor could take better precautions than our wasp, for she has received her instructions from HIM who provides for the necessities of all his creatures. In selecting the worms, she chooses those of a proper size, that they may be sufficient in quantity, and of an age that will not be in danger of perishing with hunger, in