digger wasp
A wasp in the family Sphecidae, perphaps Ammophila zanthoptera, relentlessly moved from plant to plant, quickly searching the flowers and leaves for caterpillars. The wasp would sting the caterpillar, paralyzing it, and take it to a burrow that it had dug. She would deposit an egg and one or several caterpillars in the burrow, and then seal the burrow at its entrance.
To disguise the burrow, she picks a pebble of the right size and shape, holds it in her mouth, and then tamps the soft earth until it is firm and it looks undisturbed. This use of a tool by an insect was first described in 1892.
digger wasp
A wasp in the family Sphecidae, perphaps Ammophila zanthoptera, relentlessly moved from plant to plant, quickly searching the flowers and leaves for caterpillars. The wasp would sting the caterpillar, paralyzing it, and take it to a burrow that it had dug. She would deposit an egg and one or several caterpillars in the burrow, and then seal the burrow at its entrance.
To disguise the burrow, she picks a pebble of the right size and shape, holds it in her mouth, and then tamps the soft earth until it is firm and it looks undisturbed. This use of a tool by an insect was first described in 1892.