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PROCEEDINGS OF THE SECOND ENTOMOLOGICAL MEETING 13 
compelled to perform every action in a fixed order ; so that, if this 
routine was upset artificially, the insect was unable to cope with the 
new conditions. In Fabre’s “ Insect Life’’ there is a whole chapter 
entitled “ the ignorance of instinct ” and in reference to Ammophila he 
says “the creature obeys, impelled by instinct, without reasoning on 
what it does”. Doubtless Fabre’s observations were quite accurate so- 
far as concerns the species which he had under observation ; the validity 
of his conclusions is another matter. But numerous writers have: 
quoted Fabre’s observations and have applied them generally and 
stated in effect that the actions of insects such as these Hunting Wasps 
are governed entirely by fixed instincts and not at all by intelligent 
reasoning. Well, with regard to that aspect of the matter, I can only 
tell you briefly a few facts which I noted last year. Last May, when 
I was at Peshawar, in a room of the bungalow in which I was. 
breeding Dacus olee and other insects, a mud-cell-building Eumenes. 
of the species common in that part of India—Eumenes dimadiatipennis,. 
to be exact—was busily engaged in building a cluster of mud-cells on 
the mantelpiece and storing them with caterpillars. I watched its 
operations and, I am afraid, interfered with them considerably. When 
I first saw it, there was one mud-cell stored and closed up and a second 
cell started. I opened up the first (completed) cell and removed the 
stored caterpillars. According to the theory of fixed instincts, the 
wasp ought to have paid no further attention to the first cell but ought 
to have gone on building the second one in a purely mechanical routine- 
way. But what actually happened was that the wasp temporarily 
abandoned the second cell, came back to the first one, mended it where 
it was broken open, went and caught more caterpillars, re-stored the. 
first cell and closed it up before going on with its work on the second 
cell. On another occasion, after this same wasp had stored and closed 
up a cell and was engaged in bringing mud to start a new cell, I placed 
on the outside of the closed cell a stung caterpillar removed from another 
cell. Presently the wasp returned with its load of mud, saw the cater- 
pillar and examined it and evidently thought the matter out ; apparently 
it came to the conclusion that the caterpillar must have escaped some- 
how from the closed cell, so it proceeded to reopen the cell, stowed the- 
caterpillar away in it, re-closed the cell, and then went on with its work 
on the foundations of the new cell. Here again—I may be wrong i 
my conclusions, but you can draw your own conclusions ; I give you 
the facts which I observed—it seemed to me that the wasp, far from 
being tied down to a mere routine inflexibly laid down by instinct, 
showed a distinctly intelligent appreciation of a novel situation and 
modified its procedure accordingly. 
