THE HARMAS 11 



The little Dominican disappeared with the loads of stones. 

 I regret him : he would have been a charming neighbor. 

 The Eyed Lizard I do not regret at all. 



The sand sheltered a different colony. Here, the 

 Bembeces ^ were sweeping the threshold of their burrows, 

 flinging a curve of dust behind them ; the Languedocian 

 Sphex was dragging her Ephippigera ^ by the antennae ; 

 a Stizus ^ was storing her preserves of Cicadellse.^ To 

 my sorrow, the masons ended by evicting the sporting 

 tribe; but, should I ever wish to recall it, I have but to 

 renew the mounds of sand : they will soon all be there. 



Hunters that have not disappeared, their homes being 

 different, are the Ammophilae, whom I see fluttering, one 

 in spring, the others in autumn, along the garden-walks 

 and over the lawns, in search of a Caterpillar; the Pom- 

 pili,' who travel alertly, beating their wings and rum- 

 maging in every corner in quest of a Spider. The largest 

 of them waylays the Narbonne Lycosa,^ whose burrow is 

 not infrequent in the harmas. This burrow is a vertical 

 well, with a curb of fescue-grass intertwined with silk. 

 You can see the eyes of the mighty Spider gleam at the 

 bottom of the den like little diamonds, an object of terror 

 to most. What a prey and what dangerous hunting for 

 the Pompilus! And here, on a hot summer afternoon, 



1 A species of Digger-wasps. — Translator's Note. 



2 A species of Green Grasshopper. — Translator's Note. 

 ^A species of Hunting-wasp. — Translator's Note. 



* Froghoppers. — Translator's Note. 



5 The Pompilus is a species of Hunting-wasp known also as the 

 Ringed Calicurgus. — Translator's Note. 



• Known also as the Black-bellied Tarantula. — Translator's Note. 



