Change of Diet 



kinds of game appropriate to their bulk. 

 The Great Cerceris ^ favours above all Cle- 

 onus ophthalmicus, one of the largest of our 

 Weevils; but at need she accepts the other 

 Cleoni, as well as the kindred genera, pro- 

 vided that the capture be of an imposing 

 size, Cerceris arenaria ^ extends her hunt- 

 ing-grounds farther afield: any Weevil of 

 average dimensions is to her a welcome cap- 

 ture. The Buprestis-hunting Cerceris adopts 

 all the Buprestes indiscriminately, so long 

 as they are not beyond her strength. The 

 Crowned Philanthus {P. coronatus, FAB.) 

 fills her underground warehouses with Ha- 

 licti ^ chosen among the biggest. Much 

 smaller than her kinswoman, Philanthus 

 raptor, LEP., stores away Halicti chosen 

 among the less large species. Any adult 

 Acridian approaching an inch in length suits 

 the White-banded Sphex. The various 

 tidae of the neighbourhood are admitted to 

 the la'rder of Stizus ruficornus and of the 

 Mantis-hunting Tachytes on the sole condi- 

 tion of being young and tender. The lar- 



1 Cerceris tuber culata. Cf. The Hunting Wasps: chaps, 

 ii. and iii. — Translator's Note. 



2 Cf . idem : chap. i. — Translator's Note. 



3 Cf. Bramble-bees and Others, by J. Henri Fabre, trans- 

 lated by Alexander Teixeira de Mattos: chaps, xii. to 

 xiv. — Translator's Note. 



173 



