62 INSECT LIFE 



IV 



side, sometimes on the other, and return from all 

 directions, loaded with prey, so that they must seek 

 it on ail sides ; but as they barely take ten minutes 

 between going and returning, the space worked 

 over could not be very great, especially considering 

 the time necessary to discover the prey, to attack and 

 render it an inert mass. I, therefore, set myself to 

 examine all the adjacent ground with close attention, 

 hoping to discover some Cerceris on the hunt. One 

 afternoon devoted to this weary work convinced me 

 of the uselessness of my researches, and of the little 

 chance I had of surprising any of the few Cerceris, 

 scattered here and there, and soon lost to view by 

 their rapid flight ; above all, in difficult ground, 

 planted with olives, I gave up the attempt. But 

 by carrying live weevils to the neighbourhood of the 

 nests might I not tempt the Cerceris by a prey 

 found without trouble, and so observe the drama? 

 The notion seemed good, and the very next day I 

 set out to find live Cleonus ophthalmicus. Vineyards, 

 wheat-fields, and crops of lucerne, and heaps of 

 stones did I visit and examine one and all, and 

 after two days of close search I possessed — dare 

 I own it ? — three weevils ! bare, dusty, maimed of 

 antennae or tarsi, shabby old creatures which, 

 perhaps, the Cerceris would not touch ! Since the 

 day of that fevered search, when, for a weevil's sake, 

 I bathed myself in perspiration during my wild 

 expedition, many a year has passed, and yet, in 

 spite of almost daily entomological researches, I 

 am still ignorant of the life and habits of this 

 Cleonus, which I met here and there, straying on 

 the edge of paths. Wonderful powers of instinct ! 



