Exchanging the Nests 



returns to it with unwearying persistence 

 even when the nest Is gone. But she has only 

 a very vague notion of the nest Itself. She 

 does not recognize the masonry which she her- 

 self has erected and kneaded with her saliva; 

 she does not know the pollen-paste which she 

 herself has stored. In vain she inspects her 

 cell, her own handiwork; she abandons It, re- 

 fusing to acknowledge It as hers, once the spot 

 whereon the pebble rests Is changed. 



Insect memory, it must be confessed, is a 

 strange one, displaying such lucidity in Its gen- 

 eral acquaintance with locality and such limi- 

 tations in its knowledge of the dwelling. I 

 [feel inclined to call it topographical instinct: 

 it grasps the map of the country and not the 

 beloved nest, the home itself. The Bembex- 

 wasps^ have already led us to a like conclusion. 

 iWhen the nest is laid open, these Wasps be- 

 come wholly indifferent to the family, to the 

 grub writhing in agony in the sun. They do 

 not recognize it. What they do recognize, 

 what they seek and find with marvellous pre- 

 cision is the site of the entrance-door of which 

 nothing at all is left, not even the threshold. 



iCf. Insect Life: chaps, xvi. to xtx. — Translator's Note. 

 59 



