192 THE WONDERS OF INSTINCT 



an excellent method on her part, because of the variety 

 of the game that comes her way. I see her accepting 

 with equal readiness whatever chance may send her: 

 Butterflies and Dragon-flies, Flies and Wasps, small 

 Dung-beetles and Locusts. If I offer her a Mantis, a 

 Bumble-bee, an Anoxia — the equivalent of the common 

 Cockchafer — and other dishes probably unknown to her 

 race, she accepts all and any, large and small, thin- 

 skinned and horny-skinned, that which goes afoot and 

 that which takes winged flight. She is omnivorous, 

 she preys on everything, down to her own kind, should 

 the occasion offer. 



Had she to operate according to individual structure, 

 she would need an anatomical dictionary; and instinct 

 is essentially unfamiliar with generalities : its knowledge 

 is always confined to limited points. The Cerceres 

 know their Weevils and their Buprestis-beetles abso- 

 lutely; the Sphex their Grasshoppers, their Crickets and 

 their Locusts ; the Scolise ^ their Cetonia- and Oryctes- 

 grubs. Even so the other paralyzers. Each has her own 

 victim and knows nothing of any of the others. 



The same exclusive tastes prevail among the slayers. 

 Let us remember, in this connection, Philanthus apivorus 

 and, especially, the Thomisus, the comely Spider who 

 cuts Bees' throats. They understand the fatal blow, 

 either in the neck or under the chin, a thing which 

 the Epeira does not understand; but, just because of 



iThe Scolia is a Digger-wasp, like the Cerceris and the Sphex, 

 and feeds her larvae on the grubs of the Cetonia, or Rose-chafer, 

 and the Oryctes, or Rhinoceros-beetle. — Translator's Note. 



