More Hunting Wasps 



shared by. the Locust slayer, Panzer's Tach- 

 ytes, who, resembles her so closely in cos- 

 tume. Though engaged in individual tasks, 

 the first seeks the society of her kind, as do 

 certain of the Sphex-wasps, while the second 

 establishes herself in solitude, after the 

 fashion of the Ammophila. Neither the 

 personal form nor the nature of the occupa- 

 tion determines sociability. 



Crouching voluptuously in the sun, on the 

 sand at the foot of the bank, the males lie 

 waiting for the females, to plague them as 

 they pass. They are ardent lovers, but cut 

 a poor figure. Their linear dimensions are 

 barely half those of the other sex, which im- 

 plies a volume only one-eighth as great. At 

 a short distance they appear to wear on their 

 heads a sort of gaudy turban. At close 

 quarters this headgear is seen to consist of 

 the eyes, which are very large and a bright 

 lemon-yellow and which almost entirely sur- 

 round the head. 



At ten o'clock in the mjorning, when the 

 heat begins to grow intolerable to the ob- 

 server, there is a continual coming and going 

 between the burrows and the tufts of grass, 

 everlasting, thyme and wormwood, which 

 constitute the Tachytes' hunting-grounds 

 within a moderate radius. The journey is so 

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