The Tachytes 



formed by the end of a tunnel. If the tem- 

 perature be mild and the "sky clear, she 

 emerges from her retreat in January and 

 February and comes to the surface of the 

 bank to see whether spring is making pro- 

 gress. When the shadows fall and the heat 

 decreases, she reenters her winter-quarters. 



The Anathema Tachytes (T. anathema, 

 VAN DER LIND), the giant of her race, 

 almost as large as the Languedocian Sphex 

 and, like her, decorated with a red scarf 

 round the base of the abdomen, is rarer than 

 any of her congeners. I have come upon 

 her only some four or five times, as an iso- 

 lated individual and always in circumstances 

 which will tell us of the nature of her game 

 with a probability that comes very near to 

 certainty. She hunts underground, like the 

 Scoliae. In September I see her go down 

 into the soil, which has been loosened by a 

 recent light shower; the movement of the 

 earth turned over keeps me informed of her 

 subterranean progress. She is like the 

 Mole, ploughing through a meadow in pur- 

 suit of his White Worm. She comes out 

 farther on, nearly a yard from the spot at 

 which she went in. This long journey un- 

 derground has taken her only a few minutes. 



Is this due to extraordinary powers of 

 137 



