Fabre's Writings 



to the nest under the edge of the bell-glass, 

 which is a natural enough proceeding for an 

 insect returning from the fields, who may 

 have to gain her nest through falls of earth 

 in the entry. But even this particular Wasp 

 cannot repeat the operation in order to 

 emerge from the bell-glass, and the whole 

 community eventually die prisoners after a 

 week of futile agitation. The entomologist 

 finds this ineptness of the Wasp repeated in 

 the Necrophori, who nevertheless have a 

 great reputation for intelligence, and, in 

 general, in all the insects which he has had oc- 

 casion to rear under a bell-glass. 



The larva is subject to the same absurdi- 

 ties as the adult insect. The Scolia's larva, 

 which eats in such a scientific manner, is 

 quite unable to apply its remarkable talents 

 the moment it is off the beaten track. Placed 

 on the victim's back at a spot which is not 

 the normal point of attack, placed on a 

 Cetonia-grub that is immobilised without 

 being paralysed, or merely removed for a 

 moment from its position, it is no longer able 

 to do anything right. 



By a strange contradiction, characteristic of the 

 instinctive faculties, profound knowledge is asso- 

 ciated with an ignorance no less profound. . . . 



341 



