The Hunting Wasps 



their egg on the piece of game at the very 

 moment when it is about to disappear down 

 the corridor. If they succeed, the Wasp's 

 nurseling, the son of the house, will perish, 

 starved by its gluttonous fellow-boarders. 



The Bembex seems aware of these dan- 

 gers and makes arrangements for her en- 

 trance to be effected swiftly, without serious 

 obstacles, in short, for the sand blocking the 

 door to yield to a mere push of her head, 

 aided by a brisk sweep of her front tarsi. 

 With this object, the materials at the ap- 

 proaches to the home are subjected to a sort 

 of sifting. At leisure moments, under a 

 kindly sun, when the larva has its food and 

 does not need her attentions, the mother 

 rakes the ground in front of her door; she 

 removes little bits of wood, any extra-large 

 particles of gravel, any leaves that might get 

 in the way and bar her passage at the danger- 

 ous moment of her return. The Bembex 

 whom we have just seen so zealously em- 

 ployed was busy at this work of sifting: to 

 facilitate the access to her home, the materi- 

 als of the corridor have to be dug up, care- 

 fully sorted and rid of anything likely to 

 obstruct the road. Who indeed can tell 

 whether, by that nimble eagerness, that joy- 

 278 



