The Hunting Wasps 



region to reap new delights. The field to 

 be explored is the garden of a country-house 

 standing amid forests of maritime pines. 

 One soon recognized the dwellings of the Cer- 

 ceris; they had been made solely in the main 

 paths, where the firm, compact soil offered the 

 Burrowing Hymenopteron a solid founda- 

 tion for the construction of her subterranean 

 abode. I inspected some twenty, I may say, 

 by the sweat of my brow. It is a very labori- 

 ous sort of undertaking, for the nests and 

 consequently the provisions are not found at 

 less than a foot below the surface. It be- 

 comes necessary, therefore, lest they should 

 be damaged, to begin by inserting a grass- 

 stalk, serving as a landmark and a guide, into 

 the Cerceris' gallery and next to invest the 

 place with a square of trenches, some seven 

 or eight inches from the orifice or the land- 

 mark. The sapping must be done with a 

 garden-spade, so that the central clod can be 

 completely detached on every side and raised 

 in one piece, which we turn over on the 

 ground and then break up carefully. This 

 was the method that answered with me. 



" You would have shared our enthusiasm, 

 my friend, at the sight of the beautiful speci- 

 mens of Buprestes which this original method 

 8 



