The Hunting Wasps 



region to reap new delights. The field to 

 be explored is the garden of a country-house 

 standing amid forests of maritime pines. 

 One soon recognized the dwellings of the Cer- 

 ceris: they had been made solely in the main 

 paths, where the firm, compact soil ottered the 

 Burrowing H\Tnenopteron a solid founda- 

 tion for the construction of her subterranean 

 abode. I inspected some twenty, I may say, 

 by the sweat of my brow. It is a very labori- 

 ous sort of undertaking, for the nests and 

 consequently the provisions are not found at 

 less than a foot below the surface. It be- 

 comes necessary, therefore, lest they should 

 be damaged, to begin by inserting a grass- 

 stalk, serving as a landmark and a guide, into 

 the Cerceris' gallery and next to invest the 

 place with a square of trenches, some seven 

 or eight inches from the orifice or the land- 

 mark. The sapping must be done with a 

 garden-spade, so that the central clod can be 

 completely detached on even,- side and raised 

 in one piece, which we turn over on the 

 ground and then break up carefully. This 

 was the method that answered with me. 



" lou would have shared our enthusiasm, 

 my friend, at the sight of the beautiful speci- 

 mens of Buprestes which this original method 



