Show C C A D A a E 1 t IQ W M 41 n 9 4 wasp brings home its dinner a cicada v wasps alps asps and hornets are efficient destroyers of our insect pests I 1 prepared by national geographic society national washington hn ton D C service TINGS have a high educational S STINGS cat ional value after one or two experiences with these concealed weapons the personality of the little s sting t I 1 ng wielders is firmly impressed upon you it is quite proper to regard the wasps and hornets with respect as they insist you shall but do in not ot let their potent personalities prejudice you against them per for it Is within this group taken in the broadest sense that Is found the cleverest and most ingenious of all the insects as well as tho the most efficient and destructive enemies ol of our insect pests the cleverness and ingenuity of wasps take numerous forms each of the many thousands of different kinds has its own little specialty w which aich differs more or less from that of every other kind among these specialties few are more fascinating than those of 0 the various digger wasps that burrow in the ground and lay up in little chambers food upon which their young subsist look closely into the habits of some of the common digger wasps and see what they are doing in that sultry season when you can think only of vacation tor for it is then that they display the greatest energy familiar to everyone in the hot still midsummer days is the monotonous no shrill song of the cicada hornets prey on cicadas once in a while one of these monotonous no trills brills stops suddenly you hear a discordant shriek that startles you for a moment then all is the same ame again the heat and the interminable trills brills of the cicadas what has happened one of natures little tragedies A cicada has been surprised by a cicada killer has fled shrieking away and in all probability has been caught and stung not to death but into a state of complete helplessness the cicada killer Is one of the largest and most conspicuous as well as one of the commonest of burrowing wasps to many people it Is known as a hornet in tact fact the hornet horne horneland tand and is much feared but it Is not at all aggressive it resents undue familiarity of course but its nature is wholly peaceful except when cicadas are concerned cicadas are its only prey sometimes you see it flying about a tree hunting tor for a victim up among the branches or pursuing a cicada at I 1 high speed through the air but it is usually noticed dragging a cicada often much larger than itself along the ground on the way to its burrow this nursery is commonly made in the higher and drier portions of lawns or in sloping grassy banks and runs to a more or less spherical cell about an inch and a half in diameter the finished nursery usually includes tour four cells after each cell is completed the mother wasp goes on a hunting expedition P edition tion in bringing the cicada to the he cell she frequently hoists her victim laboriously up a tree from which she mes flies diagonally down toward w ard her burrow thus chils she saves much time and energy tor for dragging a creature as large as a cicada through the grass Is a herculean task ask even for so powerful a wasp usually though not invariably a second cicada is added to the first after the cicadas still alive but helpless are stored safely in the underground cell the i wasp places an egg on the body of one of them just under one of the middle legs thien then closes the cell with earth weeks food for or the grubs the egg hatches in three days and the grub feeds on the cicadas for a little over a week it then makes a cocoon of earth mixed with enough silk to make it tather rather dense and spends the winter inside in the spring after passing through the pupa stage the wasp digs its way out of the ground the cicada killers that you see walking or flying about a grassy slope are living evidence of the numerous tragedies that have taken place beneath the sod only the young young of this wasp feed on cicadas the adults as is the case with nearly all the wasps are vegetarians for many days after emerging from the ground the cl ci cada killers indolent and peaceful wander aimlessly about lapping up nectar from the flowers they are especially fond of the sap of certain trees if truth must be told they much prefer this sap after fermentation has transformed it into more or less strong beer idle ease nectar and beer satisfy these wasps for a few weel weeks s during ur this time they display not the slightest interest in cicadas then with the attainment of full bodily development the females somewhat suddenly become demons of dynamic energy murderously murderous li inclined toward all cicada s full fledged cica da killers the cicada killers are interesting because of their great size and the bulk and power of their victims it is a thrilling sight to see one of them strike a cicada in full flight and with its prey go tumbling to the ground but their technique Is crude effective but lacking those finer touches that perfect the picture so let us consider the most accomplished artists that are found among the digger wasps how bow wasps use caterpillars rather large very slender and long wasps commonly are seen early in the summer on wild carrot and other flowers about decaying fruit or drinking at the sides of puddles Indo indolent lerit and peaceful they are unsuspicious and slow blow to take offense these are young caterpillar er wasps for which as yet life means little morel more than feeding on nectar in full enjoyment of the summer sunshine lazy slow moving creatures with an air of complete boredom they could scarcely appear less interesting or more slothful but while they are spending their time in frivolous enjoyment they are developing strength and energy and acquiring a knowledge of the world energy finally gets the upper hand and the female forsakes the flowers almost completely the first thing she does on becoming energetic Is to find a patch of bare stiff soil BOIL more or less protected and there dig a burrow ending in an enlarged chamber oval in shape and horizontal after the burrow is completed the wasp closes the opening with a little stone or a pellet of earth eart h of just the right size or sometimes with several pellets filling the hole up level with the ground and often kicking some loose earth over it her burrow completed closed and concealed from vie view W she now goes in search of prey caterpillars found on or near the ground the tha commonest one prefers green caterpillars much larger than herself when a caterpillar is discovered the wasp knocks it off the leaf onto the ground then watching her chance she seizes it with her mandibles near its head and gives it a prolonged sting between two of the earlier segments this ends the struggle of the caterpillar the wasp then stings its victim between the other earlier segments and between most or all of the hinder segments the stinging Is followed by a thorough squeezing of the neck between the m mandibles a 1 bibles all around this squeezing p process r 0 cess lasting for some time put in cleverly closed burrow barrow the caterpillar reduced to complete inertness and lying extended at full length Is now ready to be transported to the burrow the wasp turns it on its back then seizing it by the throat lifts its head off the ground and drags it along at a very cre creditable bitable pace at least when the ground is smooth and the way is unobstructed the caterpillar Is finally brought t to the burrow which is opened and the victim placed inside sometimes a single caterpillar is sufficient clent but usually two or even more are needed if more than one is stored the burrow is always closed after each is placed within it when the store of caterpillars is complete and the egg is laid the burrow is permanently closed with the greatest care now comes the most interesting part of 0 the whole proceeding the wasp searches for a little stone ot of just the right size and shape and with this held firmly in her jaws she pats the earth down very carefully to obliterate all traces of her work |