The Tachytes 



chase, she encounters the Devilkin, how does 

 she become aware that this strange find 

 makes yet another excellent addition to her 

 larder? This question, I fear, will never 

 receive an adequate reply. Other huntresses 

 have already set us the problem; others will 

 set it to us again. I shall return to it, not 

 to solve it, but to show even more plainly 

 how obscure and profound it is. But we 

 will first complete the story of the Mantis- 

 killing Tachytes. 



The colony which forms the subject of 

 my investigations is established in a mound 

 of fine sand which I myself cut into, a couple 

 of years ago, in order to unearth a few 

 Bembex larvae. The entrances to the Tach- 

 ytes' dwelling open upon the little upright 

 bank of the section. At the beginning of 

 July the work is in full swing. It must have 

 been going on already for a week or two, 

 for I find very forward larvae, as well as 

 recent cocoons. There are here, digging 

 into the sand or returning from expeditions 

 with their booty, some hundred females, 

 whose burrows, all very close to one an- 

 other, cover an area of barely a square yard. 

 This hamlet, small in extent, but neverthe- 

 less densely populated, shows us the Mantis- 

 slayer under a moral aspect which is not 

 143 



