The Hunting Wasps 



time: the Wasp would retire forthwith with 

 a victim between her legs. The dull herd 

 of Gad-flies, at this sudden irruption which 

 slaughtered them one after the other, drew 

 back a little all round, without quitting the 

 treacherous shelter. It was so hot outside ! 

 Why get excited? 



Obviously, this suddenness of attack, fol- 

 lowed by the swift removal of the prey, does 

 not allow the Bembex to regulate her dagger- 

 play. The sting no doubt performs its of- 

 fice, but it is directed without precision at 

 those spots which the hazards of the fight 

 place within its reach. I have seen Bem- 

 bex, to finish off their half-killed Gad-flies 

 still struggling in the assassin's grasp, munch 

 the head ahd thorax of the victims. This 

 habit in itself proves that the Wasp wants a 

 genuine corpse and not a paralysed prey, since 

 she ends the Fly's agony with so little cere- 

 mony. All things considered, therefore, I 

 think that, on the one hand, the nature of the 

 prey, which dries up so quickly, and, on the 

 other hand, the difficulty of making such 

 rapid attacks explain why the Bembex serve 

 up dead prey to their larvae and consequently 

 cater for them from day to day. 



Let us watch the Wasp as she returns to the 

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