The Nest-building Odynerus* 



an inverse direction in the ovaries and the 

 oviduct. In this manner the new-born grub 

 always has its food under its mandibles; 

 and its utter lack of experience does not ex- 

 pose it to the danger of death from in- 

 anition in front of a heap of provisions 

 which its mouth would not yet be able to 

 seek and find. There is the problem. I 

 beg and entreat the embryogenists to solve 

 it, without reference to preordination, with 

 the sole aid of protoplastic energy. 



To know the Odynerus in the privacy of 

 her home was not enough: the thing was to 

 see her also at work as a huntress. How 

 does she capture her game? How does she 

 operate on it, in order to keep it fresh while 

 deprived of life and movement? What is 

 her surgical method? As, for the moment, 

 I knew of no smallest colony of the Chry- 

 somela's persecutor in my neighborhood, I 

 put the matter to Claire. She was on the 

 spot, in daily contact with the Hen-house 

 where the memorable events that form the 

 subject of this essay occurred; and — a 

 most important circumstance — I knew her 

 to be both quick-witted and willing. She 

 accepted the burdensome task with en- 

 thusiasm. I, on my side, was, if possible, 

 to attempt certain observations with the cap- 

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