More Hunting Wasps 



with such zest that I believed myself to pos- 

 sess an unequalled means of observing again 

 and again, even to excess, what is so difficult 

 to achieve on the actual spot. Alas, the first- 

 fruits of my acquaintance with the Philan- 

 thus promised me more than the future held 

 in store for me! But we will not antici- 

 pate ; and we will place the huntress and her 

 game together under the bell-glass. I 

 recommend this experiment to whoever 

 would wish to see with what perfection in 

 the art of attack and defence a Hunting 

 Wasp wields the stiletto. There is no un- 

 certainty here as to the result, there is no 

 long wait: the moment when she catches 

 sight of the prey in an attitude favourable 

 to her designs, the bandit rushes forward 

 and kills. I will describe how things hap- 

 pen. 



I place under the bell-glass a Philanthus 

 and two or three Hive-bees. The prisoners 

 climb the glass wall, towards the light; they 

 go up, come down again and try to get out; 

 the vertical polished surface is to them a 

 practicable floor. They soon quiet down; 

 and the spoiler begins to notice her surround- 

 ings. The antennae are pointed forwards, 

 enquiringly; the hind-legs are drawn up with 

 a little quiver of greed in the tarsi; the head 

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