76 HALF HOURS WITH IXSECTS. [Packard. 



covered with dense golden hairs, busily engaged in digging 

 its hole in a gravelly walk. Away it worked in a lusty, 

 hearty manner, literally tooth and nail, removing the larger 

 bits of gravel with its large curved sickle-like jaws ; and as 

 it finally tunnelled itself out of sight, it would often back up 

 out of its hole, and scratch and shovel the dirt out with its 

 fore and hind legs, pushing back the dirt from the mouth of 

 its hole with its long hairy hind legs. As soon as its hole 

 was a few inches deep, perhaps four or five, it flew off to the 

 grassy bank close by and immediately returned with a green 



Fig. 59. 



Sphex Wasp. 



grasshopper which it had evidently stung and paralyzed, as 

 it did not kick and struggle. It disappeared for a few min- 

 utes in its hole, long enough apparently to lay an egg in the 

 bod}'^ of the grasshopper, which was destined only to awake 

 from its death-like lethargy to find itself the prey of the 

 young Sphex. 



That the sting of the wasp is so wonderfully guided as to 

 pierce one of the nervous centres (ganglia) of the grass- 

 hopper,, so that the insect is paralyzed, is proved by the ob- 

 servations of a French naturalist, Fabre, who has given us 



12 



