More Hunting Wasps 



clined to attribute to negligence on the in- 

 sect's part. Negligence or not, the inverted 

 method has the same final result as the di- 

 rect method: the paralysis of all the seg- 

 ments. 



Lastly, the compression of the neck by 

 the mandibulary pincers, the munching of the 

 weak spot between the base of the skull and 

 the first segment of the thorax, is sometimes 

 practised and sometimes neglected. If the 

 caterpillar's jaws open and threaten, the Am- 

 mophila stills them by biting the neck; if 

 they are already growing quiescent, she re- 

 frains. Without being indispensable, this 

 operation is useful at the moment of carting 

 the prey. The caterpillar, too heavy to be 

 carried on the wing, is dragged, head first, 

 between the Ammophila's legs. If the man- 

 dibles are working, the least clumsiness may 

 render them dangerous to the carrier, who 

 is exposed to their bite without any means 

 of defence. 



Moreover, once on the way, thickets of 

 grass are traversed in which the Grey Worm 

 can seize a blade and offer a desperate re- 

 sistance to the traction. Nor is this all. 

 The Ammophila does not as a rule trouble 

 about her burrow, or at least does not com- 

 plete it, until she has caught her caterpillar. 

 300 



