The Return to the Nest 



ing mine. More than an hour has passed 

 and the stubborn Wasp is still pursuing her 

 search on the site of the vanished doorway. 



What will happen when the larva is pre- 

 sent? This is the next aspect of the question. 

 To continue the experiment with the same 

 Bembex would not have given me the posi- 

 tive evidence which I wanted, for the insect, 

 rendered more obstinate by its vain quest, 

 seemed to me now obsessed by a fixed idea, 

 which would certainly have obscured the 

 facts which I wished to ascertain. I needed 

 a fresh subject, one not overexcited and 

 solely concerned with the impulses of the 

 first moment. An opportunity soon pre- 

 sented itself. 



I uncover the burrow from end to end as 

 I have just explained, but without touching 

 the contents : I leave the larva in its place, I 

 respect the provisions; everything in the 

 house is in order; there is nothing lacking 

 but the roof. Well, in front of this open 

 dwelling, of which the eye freely takes in 

 every detail: entrance-hall, gallery, cell at 

 the bask with the grub and its heap of Flies ; 

 in front of this dwelling now a trench, at the 

 end of which the larva wriggles under the 

 blistering rays of the sun, the mother be- 

 345 



