More Hunting Wasps 



tying the crop of her Bee. The huntress of 

 Grey Worms induces a temporary torpor of 

 the mandibles; the ravlsher of Bees makes 

 them eject their honey. No one gifted with 

 the least perspicacity will confound the two 

 operations. 



For the moment we will not dwell any 

 longer on the method of the Hairy Ammo- 

 phila ; we will see instead how her kinswomen 

 behave. After protracted refusals the 

 Sandy Ammophila (A. sabulosa, FAB.), on 

 whom I experimented in September, ended 

 by accepting the proffered prey, a powerful 

 caterpillar as thick as a lead-pencil. The 

 surgical method did not differ from that em- 

 ployed by the Hairy Ammophila when opera- 

 ting on her Grey Worm in one spell. All 

 the segments, excepting the last three, were 

 stung from front to back, beginning with 

 the prothorax. This single success with a 

 simplified method left me in ignorance of the 

 accessory manoeuvres, which I do not doubt 

 must more or less closely recall those of the 

 preceding species. 



I am all the more inclined to accept these 

 secondary manoeuvres, not as yet recorded — 

 the transports of triumph and the compress- 

 ions of the neck — inasmuch as I see them 

 practised upon the Looper caterpillars, which 

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