More Hunting Wasps 



whereupon I am suddenly deprived of their 

 hints. To know more or less where I should 

 thrust my luchet, I have only one resource 

 left, which is to watch for the females emer- 

 ging from the ground or else entering it. 

 With a great expenditure of time and pa- 

 tience I have at last had this windfall, very 

 rarely, I admit. 



The Scoliae do not dig a burrow which can 

 be compared with that of the other Hunting 

 Wasps; they have no fixed residence, with 

 an unimpeded gallery opening on the outer 

 world and giving access to the cells, the 

 abodes of the larvae. They have no en- 

 trance- and exit-doors, no corridor built in 

 advance. If they have to make their 

 way underground, any point not hitherto 

 turned over serves their purpose, provided 

 that it be not too hard for their digging- 

 tools, which, for that matter, are very power- 

 ful; if they have to come out, the point of 

 exit is no less indifferent. The Scolia does 

 not bore the soil through which she passes: 

 she excavates and ploughs it with her legs 

 and forehead; and the stuff shifted remains 

 where it lies, behind her, forthwith blocking 

 the passage which she has followed. When 

 she is about to emerge into the outer world, 

 her advent is heralded by the fresh soil 

 40 



