More Hunting Wasps 



In the following August, my visits to the 

 mound of leaf-mould become a daily habit. 

 By two o'clock in the afternoon, when the 

 sun has cleared the adjacent pine-trees and 

 is shining on the heap, numbers of male 

 ScoHae arrive from the neighbouring fields, 

 where they have been slaking their thirst on 

 the eryngo-heads. Incessantly coming and 

 going with an indolent flight, they circle 

 round the heap. If some female rise from 

 the soil, those who have seen her dart for- 

 ward. A not very turbulent affray decides 

 which of the suitors shall be the possessor; 

 and the couple fly away over the wall. This 

 is a repetition of what I used to see in the 

 Bois des Issards. By the time that August 

 is over, the males have ceased to show them- 

 selves. The mothers do not appear either: 

 they are busy underground, establishing their 

 families. 



On the 2nd of September, I decide upon 

 a search with my son Emile, who handles 

 the fork and the shovel, while I examine the 

 clods dug up. Victory! A magnificent re- 

 sult, finer than any that my fondest ambition 

 would have dared to contemplate ! Here is 

 a vast array of Cetonia-larvae, all flaccid, mo- 

 tionless, lying on their backs, with a Scolia's 

 egg sticking to the centre of their abdomen; 



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