The Ignorance of Instinct 



set down for a moment on the hunting-field 

 while the Wasp hurriedly makes a burrow in 

 the vicinity, a method of procedure which 

 allows of but one chamber or cell to each re- 

 treat. For who can tell whither the chances 

 of the day will lead the huntress for her sec- 

 ond capture? The prisoner is heavy and the 

 burrow must therefore be near; so to-day's 

 home, which is too far away for the next 

 Ephippiger to be conveyed to it, cannot be 

 utilized to-morrow. Thus, as each prey is 

 caught, there is a fresh excavation, a fresh 

 burrow, with its single chamber, now here, 

 now there. Having said this, we will try a 

 few experiments to see how the insect behaves 

 when we create circumstances new to it. 



Experiment I 



A Sphex, dragging her prey along. Is a few 

 inches from the burrow. Without disturb- 

 ing her, I cut with a pair of scissors the 

 Ephippiger's antennse, which the Wasp, as 

 we know, uses for harness-ropes. On recov- 

 ering from the surprise caused by the sudden 

 lightening of her load, the Sphex goes back 

 to her victim and, without hesitation, now 

 seizes the root of the antenna, the short 

 193 



