XIV THE EMIGRANTS 197 



has a little power, the chilly insect comes out to bask 

 on its threshold, luxuriating in the hottest beams, or 

 it will venture timidly outside and walk slowly over 

 the spongy bank, brushing its wings. So, too, does 

 the little gray lizard, when the sun begins to warm 

 the old wall which is its home. 



But vainly would one seek in winter, even in the 

 most sheltered spots, for a Cerceris, Sphex, Philanthus, 

 Bembex, and other Hymenoptera with carnivorous 

 larvae. All died after their autumn labours, and 

 their race is only represented by the larvae benumbed 

 down in their cells. Thus, by a very rare exception, 

 Ammophila hirsuta, hatched in the hot season, passes 

 the following winter in some warm refuge, and this 

 is why it appears so early in the year. 



With these data let us try to explain the 

 Ammophila swarm on the crest of Mont Ventoux. 

 What could these numerous Hymenoptera under their 

 sheltering stone have been about? Were they 

 meaning to take up winter quarters there and await 

 under their flat stone, benumbed, the season pro- 

 pitious to their labours ? Everything points to the 

 improbability of this. It is not in August, at the 

 time of the greatest heat, that an animal is over- 

 come with winter sleep. Want of their food — the 

 honey juice sucked from flowers — cannot be suggested. 

 September showers will soon come, and vegetation, 

 suspended for a while by the heat of the dog days, 

 will assume new vigour and cover the fields with a 

 flowery carpet almost as varied as that of spring. 

 This period — one of enjoyment for most of the 

 Hymenoptera — cannot possibly be one of torpor for 

 A. hirsuta. Again, can one suppose that the heights 



