Female S. ichneumoneus engage in two types of behavior when it comes to nest building and provisioning. A female may either found her own single-celled nest or she may usurp the nest built by another female. It takes about 100 minutes for a female S. ichneumoneus wasp to construct a nest, which she will eventually provision with one to six prey katydids over a period of one to ten days. To forgo the costs of digging and some of the cost of foraging a female wasp may instead "share" the nest of another female, adding her own prey items to those provided by the original female in the established nest. This technique, however, is a gamble for the intruding female. If the original female returns, lays an egg, and seals the nest before the second female wasp can do the same, the second female will have lost the nesting site along with the prey items she has added. There is also a chance that the original female will encounter the intruding female and oust her from the nest. For additional info, refer to O'Neill (1).