HUNTERS OF LARGE ORTHOPTERA 179 



the wing and made it fall, or attacked it on the ground and 

 caused it to roll over in its agony. We should like to witness 

 the initial attack of the wasp. It is doubtful if the hopper's 

 movements were really an effort to rise or to shake off the 

 enemy. Nevertheless, it is certain that the wasp had much 

 difficulty in clinging to the hopper during this shake-up with- 

 out removing her sting. The sting was inserted between the 

 head and the thorax, at a point just in front of the fore-legs. 

 She did not make several thrusts as Ammophila does, but 

 when we saw them her dagger was already inserted, and 

 there she calmly and firmly held it for over one minute 

 while her victim writhed and fought; how long they had 

 struggled thus before our arrival we do not know. 



At the end of the minute the wasp suddenly darted away 

 on the wing to a snakeroot plant ten feet away. Judging 

 from the suddenness of her departure and the absence of 

 any flight of orientation, we suspected that she had fled in 

 alarm and would not return. 



We then watched the hopper as it lay on its back vio- 

 lently beating its wings against the earth. Gradually the 

 beating grew weaker, until it was a throb and a quiver ; this 

 in turn gradually waned until, at the end of five minutes, 

 the hopper lay motionless on the ground with its wings 

 outstretched. Of course this made us ask at once : "If 

 the wasp returns, how will she right the hopper and close 

 the wings to make its removal easy?" At that moment the 

 wasp appeared on the field, seeking her victim. By a series 

 of walks, jumps, skips and short flights, she attempted to 

 locate it, but she had left it so hastily that she had difficulty 

 in discovering it; although in her fifteen-minute search she 

 came within a few inches of it four times, she could not 

 find it ; she evidently knew the general vicinity, but had 

 memorized no familiar landmarks by which to locate it, so 

 presently she flew away permanently. 



