CHAPTER VIII 



THE NEST-BUILDING ODYNERUS 



IF further proofs than those submitted 

 elsewhere were needful, to demonstrate 

 that the organ does not imply the function, 

 that the implement does not determine the 

 work,^ the Odynerus group would furnish 

 us with very remarkable evidence. With a 

 close similarity of organization, not only in 

 the details but also in the aggregate, a simi- 

 larity which makes these insects one of the 

 most natural genera in respect of structure, 

 they possess a great variety of industries, 

 bearing no relation one to the other, though 

 carried on with the same equipment. 

 Apart from the likeness in form, one single 

 characteristic unites this group, whose hab- 

 its are so unlike: all the Odyneri are game- 

 hunters; they victual their families with 

 grubs paralysed with the sting, with little cat- 

 erpillars and small Beetle-larvae. 



But to achieve this common end, the 

 larder furnished with its egg and stuffed 



1 Cf. the essay on the Re&in-bees in Bramble-bees and 

 Others: chap. x. — Translator's Note. 

 176 



