The Mason-bees 



Mason-bees and others, who have a special 

 sense to guide them. 



The Amazon, though belonging to the 

 Hymenopteron clan, herself possesses rather 

 limited homing-faculties, as witness her com- 

 pulsory return by her former trail. Can she 

 imitate, to a certain extent, the Procession- 

 aries' method, that is to say, does she leave, 

 along the road trav^ersed, not a series of con- 

 ducting threads, for she is not equipped for 

 that work, but some odorous emanation, for 

 instance, some formic scent, which would 

 allow her to guide herself by means of the 

 olfactory sense? This view is pretty gen- 

 erally accepted. The Ants, people say, are 

 guided by the sense of smell; and this sense 

 of smell appears to have its seat in the 

 antennae, which we see in continual palpita- 

 tion. It is doubtless very reprehensible, but 

 I must admit that the theory does not inspire 

 me with overwhelming enthusiasm. In the 

 first place, I have my suspicions about a sense 

 of smell seated in the antennae : I have given 

 my reasons before; and, next, I hope to prove 

 by experiment that the Red Ants are not 

 guided by a scent of any kind. 



To lie in wait for my Amazons, for whole 

 138 



