More Hunting Wasps 



Very often a corpse, a form of food fatal 

 to the grub. 



The Two-banded Scolia stings a little 

 lower down, on the line of demarcation be- 

 tween the first two thoracic segments. Her 

 position is likewise transversal in relation to 

 the Cetonia-grub; but the distance of the 

 cervical ganglia from the point where the 

 sting enters would possibly not allow the 

 weapon turned towards the head to inflict a 

 lesion followed by sudden death as In the 

 above Instance. I am calling this witness 

 with another object. It Is extremely unusual 

 for the operator, no matter what her prey 

 or her method, to make a shght mistake and 

 sting merely s'omewhere near the requisite 

 point. I see them all groping with the tip 

 of the abdomen, sometimes seeking persist- 

 ently, before unsheathing. They thrust 

 only when the point beneath the sting is pre- 

 cisely that at which the wound will produce 

 its full effect. The Two-banded Scolia In 

 particular will struggle with the Cetonia- 

 grub for half an hour at a time to enable 

 herself to drive In the stiletto at the right 

 spot. 



Wearied by an endless scuffle, one of my 

 captives committed before my eyes a slight 

 blunder, an unprecedented thing. Her 



354 



