The Hunting Wasps 



advance, if, for instance, you have in reserve 

 a piece of game which you propose to substi- 

 tute for that of the Sphex, it is to be feared, 

 nay, it is almost certain that the huntress will 

 not appear; and, when she does come at last, 

 your materials are no longer fit for use and 

 everything has to be improvised in a hurry, 

 that very moment, under conditions that are 

 not always satisfactory. 



Let us take heart. The site is a first-rate 

 one. Many a time already I have surprised 

 the Sphex here, sunning herself on a vine-leaf. 

 The insect, spread out flat, is basking voluptu- 

 ously in the heat and light. From time to 

 time it has a sort of frenzied outburst of 

 pleasure: it quivers with content; it rapidly 

 taps its feet on its couch, producing a tattoo 

 not unlike that of rain falling heavily on the 

 leaf. The joyous thrum can be heard several 

 feet away. Then immobility begins again, 

 soon followed by a fresh nervous commotion 

 and by the whirling of the tarsi, a symbol of 

 supreme felicity. I have known some of 

 these passionate sun-lovers suddenly to leave 

 the workyard, when the larva's cave has been 

 half-dug, and go to the nearest vine to take 

 a bath of heat and light, after which they 

 would come back to the burrow, as though re- 

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