More Hunting Wasps 



As for the outer wrapper, its lack of resist- 

 ance enables it to yield without difficulty 

 when the other gives way. 



I cannot quite make out by what knack the 

 Wasp contrives to detach the cap of the inner 

 shell with such accuracy. Is it the art prac- 

 tised by the tailor when cutting his stuff, with 

 mandibles taking the place of scissors? I 

 hardly venture to admit as much,: the tissue 

 is so tough and the circle of division so pre- 

 cise. The mandibles are not sharp enough 

 to cut without leaving a ragged edge; and 

 then what geometrical certainty they would 

 need for an operation so perfect that it might 

 well have been performed with the com- 

 passes! 



I suspect therefore that the Scolia first 

 fashions the outer sac in accordance with the 

 usual method, that is, by distributing the silk 

 uniformly, without any special preparation 

 of one part of the wall more than of an- 

 other, and that it afterwards changes its 

 method of weaving in order to attend to 

 the main work, the inner shell. In this it 

 apparently imitates the Bembex,^ which 

 weaves a: sort of eel-trap, whose ample mesh 

 allows it to gather grains of sand outside 



1 Cf. The Hunting Wasps: chaps, xiv. to xvi. — Trans- 

 lator's Note. 



86 



