FABRE'S BOOK OF INSECTS 



Once and once only I was able to observe a Pelopaeus 

 at my own fireside ; and, as it happened, it was a washing- 

 day. I had not long been appointed to the Avignon 

 grammar-school. It was close upon two o'clock, and in 

 a few minutes the roll of the drum would summon me 

 to give a scientific lecture to an audience of wool-gather- 

 ers. Suddenly I saw a strange, agile insect dart through 

 the steam that rose from the wash-tub. The front part of 

 its body was very thin, and the back part was very plump, 

 and the two parts were joined together by a long thread. 

 It was the Pelopaeus, the first I had seen with observant 

 eyes. 



Being very anxious to become better acquainted with 

 my visitor, I fervently entreated the household not to 

 disturb her in my absence. Things went better than I 

 dared hope. On my return she was still carrying on her 

 mason's work behind the steam. Being eager to see the 

 building of the cells, the nature of the provisions, and 

 the evolution of the young Wasps, I raked the fire so as 

 to decrease the volume of smoke, and for a good two hours 

 I watched the mother Wasp diving through the cloud. 



Never again, in the forty years that followed, was my 

 fireplace honoured with such a visit. All the further 

 information I have gathered was gleaned on the hearths 

 of my neighbours. 



The Pelopaeus, it appears, is of a solitary and vagrant 



[72] 



