More Hunting Wasps 



sun, without which condition the executioner 

 as a rule declines to operate; I arm myself 

 with patience and await events. 



We will begin with the Hairy Ammophila, 

 my neighbour. Year after year, when April 

 comes, I see her in considerable numbers, 

 very busy on the paths in my enclosure. Un- 

 til June I see her digging her burrows and 

 searching for the Grey Worm, to be placed 

 in the meat-cellar. Her tactics are the most 

 complex that I know and more than any 

 other deserves to be thoroughly studied. To 

 capture the cunning vivisector, to release her 

 and catch her again I find an easy matter for 

 the best part of a month; she works outside 

 my door. 



I have still to obtain the Grey Worm. 

 This means a repetition of the disappoint- 

 ments which I had before, when, to find a 

 caterpillar, I was obliged to watch the Am- 

 mophila while hunting and to be guided by 

 her hints, as the truffle-hunter is guided by 

 the scent of his Dog. A patient exploration 

 of the harmas, one tuft of thyme after an- 

 other, does not give me a single worm. My 

 rivals in this search are finding their game 

 at every moment; I cannot find it even once. 

 Yet one more reason for bowing to the su- 

 periority of the insect in the management of 

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