The Hairy Ammophila 



" He distils them to extract the essential 

 oils," replies my man, with magnificent self- 

 possession. 



Stunned by this revelation, the questioner 

 turns his back and goes away. 



But let us waste no more time with the 

 waggish old soldier and his smart repartees 

 and let us rather come to what was attract- 

 ing my attention in the harmas laboratory. 

 Some Ammophilae were exploring on foot, 

 with brief intervals of flight, both the grass 

 and the bare patches of ground. I had seen 

 them as early as the middle of March, when 

 a fine day made its appearance, warming 

 themselves luxuriously in the dusty paths. 

 All belonged to the same species, the Hairy 

 Ammophila (A. hirsuta, KIRB.). I have al- 

 ready written of the hibernation of this Am- 

 mophila and her venery in mid-spring, at a 

 period when the other Hunting Wasps are 

 still imprisoned in their cocoons; I have de- 

 scribed her manner of operating on the cater- 

 pillar destined for her grub; I have told of 

 the repeated stings of her dart, distributed 

 over the different nerve-centres. This scien- 

 tific vivisection I had as yet observed but 

 once; and I longed to see it again. Some- 

 thing might have escaped me on the first 

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