The Method of the Ammophilae 



the sting, or because the segments more re- 

 mote from the head are rendered harmless 

 with a smaller injection of poison. No- 

 where do we see repeated the care expended 

 upon paralysing the thorax, still less the in- 

 sistent attention to the first segment. On re- 

 turning to her Looper after the entr'acte 

 devoted to the joys of success, the Ammo- 

 phila stabs so swiftly that, on one occasion, 

 I saw her obliged to begin all over again. 

 Lightly stung along its whole length, the vic- 

 tim still struggles. Without hesitation, the 

 operator unsheathes her scalpel for the sec- 

 ond time and operates on the Looper afresh, 

 with the exception of the thorax, which 

 was already sufficiently anaesthetized. This 

 done, all is in order ; there is no more move- 

 ment. 



After the stiletto the hooks of the mandi- 

 bles rarely fail to intervene. Long and 

 curved, they nibble at the paralysed victim's 

 neck, sometimes from above, sometimes 

 from below. It is a repetition of what the 

 Hairy Ammophila showed us : the same sud- 

 den squeezes of the pincers, with rather long 

 intervals between. These intervals, these 

 measured bites and the insect's watchful at- 

 titude have every appearance of telling us 

 that the operator is noting the effect pro- 

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