The Common Wasp 



not use the sting, which would have so 

 promptly put an end to all resistance. Per- 

 haps they deemed the wretched grub un- 

 worthy of ceremonial death. The expedi- 

 tious method of the poisoned dagger appears 

 to be reserved for great occasions. Thus 

 perished the Bumble-bee and the Polistes; 

 thus will perish a larva of the Scalary 

 Saperda/ an imposing grub extracted that 

 moment from under the bark of a dead 

 cherry-tree. 



I fling it on one of the combs. The 

 Wasps are greatly excited by the fall of the 

 monster, which goes into vigorous con- 

 tortions. Five or six at a time assail it, first 

 quickly biting into it and then pricking it 

 with their stings. In a couple of minutes the 

 grub, stabbed through and through, no 

 longer stirs. As for carrying the huge dead 

 body out of the nest, that is another matter; 

 it is too heavy, much too heavy. What will 

 the Wasps do? Unable to shift the grub, 

 they eat it where it lies, or rather they drain 

 it dry, drinking its blood. An hour later, 

 flaccid now and greatly diminished in weight, 

 the cumbrous corpse is dragged outside the 

 walls. 



1 A Beetle whose larva lives' in the shoots of cherry- 

 and walnut-trees, as well as in those of alder and elm. 

 Cf. Chapter XII. of the present volume. — Translator's 

 Note. 



281 



