The Scoliae 



Scolias. Here and there are scattered 

 thickets of holm-oak, whose dense under- 

 growth shelters a bed of dead leaves and a 

 thin layer of mould. My memory has 

 served me well. Here, sure enough, as the 

 heat grows a little less, appear, coming I 

 know not from whence, some Two-banded 

 Scoliae. The number increases; and it is not 

 long before I see very nearly a dozen of 

 them about me, close enough for observation. 

 By their smaller size and more buoyant 

 flight, they are easily known for males 

 Almost grazing the ground, they fly softly, 

 going to and fro, passing and repassing in 

 every direction. From time to time one of 

 them alights on the ground, feels the sand 

 with his antennae and seems to be enquiring 

 into what is happening in the depths of the 

 soil; then he resumes his flight, alternately 

 coming and going. 



What are they waiting for? What are 

 they seeking in these evolutions of theirs, 

 which are repeated a hundred times over? 

 Food? No, for close beside them stand 

 several eryngo-stems, whose sturdy clusters 

 are the Wasps' usual resource at this season 

 of parched vegetation; and not one of them 

 settles upon the flowers, not one of them 

 seems to care about their sugary exudations. 

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