The Method of the Ammophilae 



her affairs. My band of schoolboys get to 

 work in the surrounding fields. Nothing, al- 

 ways nothing! I in my turn explore the 

 outer world; and for ten days the pursuit 

 of a caterpillar torments me till I lose my 

 power of sleep. Then, at last, victory ! At 

 the foot of a sunny wall, under the budding 

 rosettes of the panicled centaury, I find a 

 fair supply of the precious Grey Worm or 

 its. equivalent. 



Behold the worm and the Ammophlla face 

 to face beneath the bell-glass. Usually the 

 attack is prompt enough. The caterpillar 

 is grabbed by the neck with the mandibles, 

 wide, curved pincers capable of embracing 

 the greater part of the living cylinder. The 

 creature thus seized twists and turns and 

 sometimes, with a blow of its tail, sends the 

 assailant rolling to a distance. The latter 

 is unconcerned and thrusts her sting thrice 

 in rapid succession into the thorax, begin- 

 ning with the third segment and ending with 

 the first, where the weapon is driven home 

 with greater determination than elsewhere. 



The caterpillar is then released. The 

 Ammophlla stamps on the ground; with her 

 quivering tarsi she taps the cardboard on 

 which the bell-glass stands; she lies down flat, 

 drags herself along, gets up again, flattens 

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