The Ignorance of Instinct 



the majority, the crowd. I am unable to 

 say whether the Locust-huntress also varies 

 in ingenuity according to the district which 

 she hails from. 



But here is something more remarkable; 

 and it is this with which I wanted to conclude 

 the present experiment. After repeatedly 

 withdrawing the White-edged Sphex' prize 

 from the mouth of the pit and compelling her 

 to come and fetch it again, I take advantage 

 of her descent to the bottom of the shaft to 

 seize the prey and put it in a place of safety 

 where she cannot find it. The Sphex comes 

 up, looks about for a long time and, when she 

 is convinced that the prey is really lost, goes 

 down into her home again. A few moments 

 after, she reappears. Is it with the inten- 

 tion of resuming the chase? Not the least 

 in the world : the Sphex begins to stop up the 

 burrow. And what we see is not a tempo- 

 rary closing, effected with a small flat stone, 

 a slab covering the mouth of the well; it is a 

 final closing, carefully done with dust and 

 gravel swept into the passage until it is filled 

 up. The White-edged Sphex makes only 

 one cell at the bottom of her shaft and puts 

 one head of game into this cell. That single 

 Locust has been caught and dragged to the 

 207 



