THE TWO-BANDED SCOLIA 149 



belly, the egg whence the consumer of the succulent 

 dainty will presently emerge. This saves the expense of 

 a house. It goes without saying that the Scolia does not 

 lay under glass : the mother is too prudent to expose her 

 egg to the dangers of the open air. 



A second detail strikes me : the fierce persistency of the 

 Scoha. I have seen the fight prolonged for a good quarter 

 of an hour, with frequent alternations of successes and 

 reverses, before the Hymenopteron achieved the requisite 

 position and reached with the tip of her belly the point 

 at which the sting must enter. During her assaults, 

 which are resumed as soon as repelled, the aggressor 

 repeatedly applies the extremity of her abdomen agamst 

 the grub, but without imsheathing ; for I should perceive 

 this by the start of the animal injured by the prick. The 

 Scolia, therefore, does not sting the Cetonia anywhere 

 until the desired point offers beneath the weapon. The 

 fact that no womids are made elsewhere is not in any way 

 due to the structure of the grub, which is soft and pene- 

 trable at all points, except the skull. The spot sought by 

 the sting is no less well-protected than the others by 

 the dermal wrapper. 



In the struggle, the Scolia, curved archwise, is some- 

 times caught in the vice of the Cetonia, which forcibly 

 contracts and buckles itself. Heedless of the rough 

 embrace, the Hymenopteron does not let go with either 

 her teeth or her ventral tip. Then follows a confused 

 scuffle between the two locked insects, of which first 

 one and next the other is on the top. When the grub 

 succeeds in ridding itself of its enemy, it unrolls itself 

 afresh, stretches itself at full length and proceeds to paddle 

 along on its back with all possible speed. Its defensive 

 artifices amount to no more than this. At an earlier 



