packakp] iielatio:n"S or estsects to 3IAX. 77 



a charmingly written account of his experiences with a wasp 

 called Cerceris, which had been known to sting, and conse- 

 quently paralyze, its prey, consisting of the larva or grub of 

 a certain weevil. M. Fabre waylaid a Cerceris returning 

 with her booty, and substituted a fresh, uninjured weevil 

 grub for the one paralyzed. "This experiment succeeded to 

 admiration. As soon as the Cerceris perceived her prey to 

 have slipped from her grasp, she struck the earth with her 

 feet, and turned impatiently hither and thither : then, sud- 

 denly perceiving the living curcullo, placed close to her by 

 M. Fabre, pounced upon it, and proceeded to carry it off. 

 Instantlj', however, discovering it to be still uninjured, she 

 placed herself face to face with it, seized its rostrum be- 

 tween her powerful mandibles, and pressed her fore legs 

 heavily upon its back, as if to cause the opening of some 

 ventral articulation. Quickly then she slid her abdomen 

 beneath the curculio, and struck her venomous dart sharply 

 twice or thrice into the joint of the prot4aorax, between the 

 first and second pair of legs. In one second, without a con- 

 vulsive movement, without those twitches of the limbs which 

 generally accompany the death agony of any animal, the 

 victim dropped motionless, struck as if by lightning. The 

 Cerceris then, turning the apparently lifeless insect on its 

 back, embraced it as before described, and bore it away in 

 triumph. Three times did M. Fabre repeat this interesting 

 experiment, each time with precisely similar results. It 

 must be clearly understood that on each occasion he re- 

 stored to the Cerceris her original captive, and took pos- 

 session of that which he had himself provided, in order to 

 examine it at his leisure. Greatly did he marvel at the dex- 

 terity with which the fatal stroke had been dealt. Not the 

 slightest trace of a wound was to be found ; not the least 

 drop of vital liquid spilt. The puncture made by the sting 

 of the Cerceris is indeed so microscopic that chemistry can 

 furnish no poison sufficiently powerful to produce with so 



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