The Hunting Wasps 



soon as it was produced. Let us not linger 

 too long on this obscure point. 



At last the game is brought to the brink of 

 the shaft, with its antennae hanging down the 

 hole. We now again see, faithfully imitated, 

 the method employed in the like case by the 

 Yellow-winged Sphex and also, but under 

 less striking conditions, by the Languedocian 

 Sphex. The Wasp enters alone, inspects the 

 interior, reappears at the entrance, lays hold 

 of the antennae and drags the Locust down. 

 While the Locust-huntress was making her 

 examination of the home, I have pushed her 

 prize a little farther back; and I obtained 

 results similar in all respects to those which 

 the Cricket-huntress gave me. Each Sphex 

 displays the same obstinacy in diving down 

 her burrow before dragging in the prey. Let 

 us recall here that the Yellow-winged Sphex 

 does not always allow herself to be caught 

 by this trick of pulling away her Cricket. 

 There are picked tribes, strong-minded fam- 

 ihes which, after a few disappointments, see 

 through the experimenter's wiles and know 

 how to baffle them. But these revolution- 

 aries, fit subjects for progress, are the mi- 

 nority; the remainder, mulish conservatives 

 clinging to the old manners and customs, are 

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