More Hunting Wasps 



the original state of affairs appears to be 

 exactly restored. And yet its successful 

 rearing is henceforth highly problematical. 

 It is possible that the larva will prosper, 

 complete its development and spin its co- 

 coon; it is also possible — and the case is not 

 unusual — that the Cetonia-larva will soon 

 turn brown and putrid. We then see the 

 Scolia itself turn brown, distended as it is 

 with putrescent foodstuffs, and then cease all 

 movement, without attempting to withdraw 

 from the sanies. It dies on the spot, poi- 

 soned by its excessively high game. 



What can be the meaning of this sudden 

 corruption of the victuals, followed by the 

 death of the Scolia, when everything ap- 

 peared to have returned to its normal condi- 

 tion? I see only one explanation. Dis- 

 turbed in its activities and diverted from its 

 usual courses by my interference, the grub, 

 when replaced on the wound from which I 

 extracted it, was unable to rediscover the 

 lode at which it was working a few minutes 

 earlier; it thrust its way at random into the 

 victim's entrails; and a few untimely bites 

 extinguished the last sparks of vitality. Its 

 confusion rendered it clumsy; and the mis- 

 take cost it its life. It dies poisoned by the 

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