The Red Ants 



with the second. To which will the Pompilus 

 betake herself? 



.We shall soon find out: here she comes, 

 leaving the burrow to pay a fresh visit to the 

 Spider. She runs straight to the second tuft, 

 where she hunts about for a long time for 

 her absent.prey. She knows that it was there, 

 when last seen, and no elsewhere; she persists 

 in looking for it there and does not once think 

 of going back to the first perch. The first 

 tuft of grass no longer counts; the second 

 alone interests her. And then the search in 

 the neighbourhood begins again. 



On finding her game on the bare spot where 

 I myself have placed it, the Pompilus quickly 

 deposits the Spider on a third tuft of grass; 

 and the experiment is renewed. This time, 

 the Pompilus hurries to the third tuft when 

 she comes to look after her Spider; she hur- 

 ries to it without hesitation, without confusing 

 it in any way with the first two, which she 

 scorns to visit, so sure is her memory. I do 

 the same thing a couple of times more; and 

 the insect always returns to the last perch, 

 without troubling about the others. I stand 

 amazed at the memory of that pigmy. She 

 need but catch a single hurried glimpse of a 

 155 



