More Hunting Wasps 



tion the Cetonia-grub, unconquerably coiled 

 upon itself, would defy the paralyser's sur- 

 gical skill. 



If the first ganglion were wounded, the 

 others would remain uninjured; and the pow- 

 erbul body, actuated by these last, would 

 lose none of its powers of contraction. Woe 

 then to the egg, to the young grub held fast 

 in its embrace ! And how insurmountable 

 would be the difficulties if the Scolia, work- 

 ing in the profound darkness amid the crum- 

 bling soil and confronted by a terrible pair 

 of mandibles, had to stab each segment in 

 turn with her sting, with the certainty of 

 method displayed by the Ammophila ! The 

 delicate operation is possible in the open air, 

 where nothing stands in the way, in broad 

 daylight, where the sight guides the scalpel, 

 and with a patient which can always be re- 

 leased if it becomes dangerous. But in the 

 dark, underground, amidst the ruins of a 

 ceiling which crumbles in consequence of the 

 conflict and at close quarters with an op- 

 ponent greatly her superior in strength, how 

 is the Scolia to guide her sting with the 

 accuracy that is essential if the stabs are to 

 be repeated? 



So profound a paralysis; the difficulty of 

 vivisection underground; the desperate coil- 



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