VESPA'S STING 91 



enough to withdraw the sting uninjured, 

 and where this is the case they do not 

 hesitate to use it "again and yet again. 



Where the sting is left in the wound it 

 should be removed at once, as the muscles 

 that are torn away with it continue to 

 contract and to pump the poison into the 

 wound. 



The wasp, like the bee, has two little 

 feelers attached to its sting, and these it 

 first protrudes as though to examine the 

 object before inserting the sting. 



Probably these feelers are useful in find- 

 ing the exact spot in the cell where the 

 tgg is to be laid. 



Claudius ytlianus, a Greek writer of 

 the second century, tells us that the people 

 of his time believed wasps found a dead 

 serpent and with its venom poisoned their 

 stings, just as human barbarians poison 

 their darts by dipping them into some 

 venomous substance. 



He also informs us that the wasps 



