The Hairy Ammophila 



I thereupon resolve to come to her assist- 

 ance. The insect, at this moment, is dig- 

 ging a tilled and absolutely bare spot. It 

 leaves the place, as it has already done with 

 so many others. I myself continue the 

 work, with the blade of a knife. I do not 

 find anything either; and I retire. The in- 

 sect comes back and again begins to scratch 

 at a certain part of my excavations. I un- 

 derstand: 



"Get out of that, you clumsy fellow!" 

 the Hymenopteron seems to say. " I'll 

 show you where the thing lives! " 



Upon her indications, I dig at the required 

 spot and unearth a Grey Worm. Well 

 done, my canny Ammophila ! Did I not say 

 that you would never have raked at an empty 

 burrow ? 



Henceforth, it is like a hunt for truffles, 

 which the Dog points out and the man ex- 

 tracts. I continue on the same system, the 

 Ammophila showing me the place and I dig- 

 ging with the knife. I thus obtain a second 

 Grey Worm, followed by a third and a 

 fourth. The exhumation is always effected 

 at bare spots that have been turned by the 

 pitchfork a few months earlier. There Is 

 absolutely nothing to denote the presence of 

 365 



