The Method of the Scoliae 



I continue my story with a fine-sized speci- 

 men, less likely to slip under the Scolia's 

 onslaught. When attacked, the larva does 

 not curl up, does not shrink into a ring as 

 did the last, which was younger and only 

 half as large. It struggles awkwardly, ly- 

 ing on its side, half-open. For all defence 

 it twists about; it opens, closes and reopens 

 the great hooks of its mandibles. The Sco- 

 lia grabs it at random, clasps it in her 

 shaggy legs and for nearly a quarter of an 

 hour battles with the luscious tit-bit. At 

 last, after a not very tumultuous struggle, 

 when the favourable position is attained and 

 the propitious moment has come, the sting is 

 implanted in the creature's thorax, in a cen- 

 tral point, below the throat, level with the 

 fore-legs. The effect is instantaneous : total 

 inertia, except of the appendages of the 

 head, the antennae and mouth-parts. I 

 achieved the same results, the same prick at 

 a definite, invariable point, with my several 

 operators, renewed from time to time by 

 some lucky cast of the net. 



Let us mention, in conclusion, that the at- 

 tack of the Interrupted Scolia is far less 

 fierce than that of the Two-banded Scolia. 

 The Wasp, a rough sand-digger, has a 

 clumsy gait; her movements are stiff and 

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