The Hunting Wasps 



ment ceases suddenly, without convulsions, 

 so soon as the fatal drop has touched the 

 nerve-centres. The Cerceris' own sting pro- 

 duces no more speedy annihilation. There 

 is nothing more striking than this immediate 

 immobility provoked in a powerful Sacred 

 Beetle. 



But this is not the only resemblance be- 

 tween the effects produced by the Wasp's 

 sting and those resulting from the nib poi- 

 soned with ammonia. The Scarabs, Bu- 

 prestes and Beetles artificially stung, notwith- 

 standing their complete immobility, preserve 

 for three weeks, a month or even two the 

 perfect flexibility of all their joints and the 

 normal freshness of their internal organs. 

 Evacuation takes place with them during the 

 first days as in the normal state; and move- 

 ments can be induced by the electric battery. 

 In a word, they behave exactly like the Bee- 

 tles immolated by the Cerceris; there is abso- 

 lute identity between the state into which the 

 kidnapper puts her victims and that which we 

 produce at will by injuring the thoracic nerve- 

 centres with ammonia. Now, as it is im- 

 possible to attribute the perfect preservation 

 of the insect for so long a period to the tiny 

 drop injected, we must reject altogether any 

 56 



