FABRE'S BOOK OF INSECTS 



trip. I take advantage of her absence to remove with 

 my tweezers from the bottom of the cell both the dead 

 Spider and the egg. 



The disappearance of the egg must be discovered by 

 the Wasp, one would think, if she possesses the least 

 gleam of intelligence. The egg is small, it is true, but 

 it lies on a comparatively large object, the Spider. What 

 will the Wasp do when she finds the cell empty*? Will 

 she act sensibly, and repair her loss by laying a second 

 egg? Not at all; she behaves most absurdly. 



What she does is to bring a second Spider, which she 

 stores away with as much cheerful zeal as if nothing 

 unfortunate had occurred. She brings a third and a 

 fourth, and still others, each of whom I remove during 

 her absence; so that every time she returns from the 

 chase the storeroom is found empty. I have seen her 

 persist obstinately for two days in seeking to fill the 

 insatiable jar, while my patience in emptying it was 

 equally unflagging. With the twentieth victim pos- 

 sibly owing to the fatigue of so many journeys the 

 huntress considered that the pot was sufficiently supplied, 

 and began most carefully to close the cell that contained 

 absolutely nothing. 



The intelligence of insects is limited everywhere in 

 this way. The accidental difficulty which one insect is 

 powerless to overcome, any other, no matter what its 



[82] 



