More Hunting Wasps 



the net. And we refrain, we beat a retreat, 

 we are greatly relieved not to have aroused 

 the dangerous creature's attention. 



Yes, I confess to having run away from my 

 first Scoliae, anxious though I was to enrich 

 my budding collection with this magnificent 

 insect. There were painful recollections of 

 the Common Wasp and the Hornet con- 

 nected with this excess of prudence. I say 

 excess, for to-day, instructed by long experi- 

 ence, I have quite recovered from my former 

 fears; and, when I see a Scolia resting on a 

 thistle-head, I do not scruple to take her in 

 my fingers, without any precaution what- 

 ever, however large she may be and how- 

 ever menacing her aspect. My courage is 

 not all that it seems to be; I am quite ready 

 to tell the Wasp-hunting novice this. The 

 Scoliae are notably peaceable. Their sting 

 is an implement of labour far more than 

 a weapon of war; they use it to paralyse 

 the prey destined for their offspring; and 

 only in the last extremity do they employ 

 it in self-defence. Moreover, the lack of 

 agility in their movements nearly always en- 

 ables us to avoid their sting; and, even if 

 we be stung, the pain is almost insignificant. 

 This absence of any acute smarting as a re- 

 sult of the poison is almost constant in the 

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