264 INSECT LIFE 



XIX 



through the fibrous mass, and penetrating to the 

 sand, she promptly discovers the mouth of the passage. 

 I stop and drive her away a second time. 



Is not the precision with which the Bembex 

 settles before her dwelling, though masked in a way 

 so novel, a proof that sight and memory are not in 

 such a case the only guides ? What further can 

 there be ? Smell, perhaps. That is very doubtful, 

 for the emanations from the dung could not baffle 

 the perspicacity of the insect. Nevertheless, let us 

 try another odour. I happen to have with me, as 

 part of my entomological outfit, a little phial of 

 ether. The covering of manure is swept off and 

 replaced by a cushion of moss, not very thick, but 

 covering a wide surface, on which I pour the con- 

 tents of my phial the moment I see the Bembex 

 coming. The over-strong emanations keep her off, 

 but only for an instant. She alights on the moss, 

 still reeking of ether, traverses the obstacle and 

 penetrates to her dwelling. The etherised effluvia 

 did not disturb her any more than did those of the 

 manure ; something surer than smell tells where her 

 nest is. 



The antennae have been often suggested as the 

 seat of a special sense to guide insects. I have 

 already shown how the suppression of these organs 

 appears to offer no obstacle to the researches of the 

 Hymenoptera. Let us try once more in wider con- 

 ditions. The Bembex is caught, its antennae ampu- 

 tated to the roots, and is then released. Stung by 

 the pain — wild with terror at being held between my 

 fingers — the insect flies off swifter than an arrow. 

 I had to wait a whole hour, uncertain as to its 



