The Hunting Wasps 



see a magnificent Languedocian Sphex drag- 

 ging a paralysed Ephippiger by the antennae. 

 She is making for the hen-house close by and 

 seems anxious to scale the wall, with the ob- 

 ject of fixing her burrow under some tile on 

 the roof; for, a few years ago, in the same 

 place, I saw a Sphex of the same species ac- 

 complish the ascent with her game and make 

 her home under the arch of a badly-joined 

 tile. Perhaps the present Wasp is descended 

 from the one who performed that arduous 

 climb. 



A like feat seems about to be repeated; 

 and this time before numerous witnesses, for 

 all the family, working under the shade of 

 the plane-trees, come and form a circle 

 around the Sphex. They wonder at the un- 

 ceremonious boldness of the insect, which is 

 not diverted from its work by a gallery of 

 onlookers; all are struck by its proud and 

 lusty bearing, as, with raised head and the 

 victim's antennae firmly gripped in its mandi- 

 bles, it drags the enormous burden after it. 

 I, alone among the spectators, feel a twinge 

 of regret at the sight : 



" Ah, if only I had some live Ephip- 

 pigers 1 " I cannot help saying, with not the 

 least hope of seeing my wish realized. 

 178 



