CHAPTER XIII 



THE AMMOPHIL^ 



A SLENDER waist, a slim shape; an ab- 

 domen tapering very much at the upper 

 part and fastened to the body as though by a 

 thread; black raiment with a red sash across 

 the belly : there you have a summary descrip- 

 tion of these burrowers, who are akin to the 

 Sphex in form and colouring, but differ greatly 

 from them in habits. The Sphex hunt Or- 

 thoptera — Locusts, Grasshoppers, Crickets 

 — while caterpillars are the quarry of the 

 Ammophilas. This change of prey in Itself 

 suggests new methods in the lethal tactics of 

 instinct. 



If the name did not sound so pleasant to 

 the ear, I would willingly quarrel with the 

 term Ammophila, which means " sand-lover," 

 as being too exclusive and often erroneous. 

 The real lovers of sand, of dry, dusty, stream- 

 ing sand, are the Bembex, who prey on Flies; 

 but the caterpillar-hunters, whose story I now 

 propose to relate, have no predilection for 

 ordinary shifting sand and even avoid it as 

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