The Problem of the Scoliae 



conditions imposed: the result of stinging 

 them would be merely a partial disorder 

 which far from subduing the Insect, would 

 render It more dangerous by irritating it yet 

 further. A sting In the joint of the neck is 

 not admissible: it would injure the cervical 

 gangHa and lead to death, followed by putre- 

 faction. There remains only the joint be- 

 tween the corselet and the abdomen. 



The sting, in entering here, has to abolish 

 all movement with a single stab, for any 

 movement would imperil the rearing of the 

 larva. The success of the paralysis, there- 

 fore, demands that the motor ganglia, at 

 least the three thoracic ganglia, shall be 

 packed in close contact opposite this point. 

 This determines the selection of Weevils 

 and Buprestes, both of which are so strongly 

 armoured. 



But where the prey has only a soft skin, 

 incapable of stopping the sting, the concen- 

 trated nervous system is no longer necessary, 

 for the operator, versed in the anatomical 

 secrets of her victim, knows to perfection 

 where the centres of innervation lie; and she 

 wounds them one after another, if need be 

 from the first to the last. Thus do the 

 Ammophllse go to work when dealing with 

 their caterpillars and the Sphex-wasps when 

 105 



