The Hairy Ammophila 



ter the Grey Worm and make it more easy 

 to handle. 



2. The Ammophila now quits her prey. 

 She flattens herself on the ground, with wild, 

 disordered movements, rolling on her side, 

 twitching and dangling her limbs, fluttering 

 her wings, as though in danger of death. I 

 fear lest the huntress may have received a 

 nasty wound in the contest. I am overcome 

 with emotion at seeing the plucky Wasp fin- 

 ish so piteously, at seeing the experiment that 

 has cost me so many hours of waiting end in 

 failure. But suddenly the Ammophila re- 

 covers, smoothes her wings, curls her anten- 

 nae and returns briskly to the attack. What 

 I had taken for the convulsions of approach- 

 ing death was the frenzied enthusiasm of 

 victory. The Wasp was congratulating her- 

 self on the manner in which she had floored 

 the enemy. 



3. The operator grips the caterpillar by 

 the skin of the back, a little lower than be- 

 fore, and pricks the second segment, still on 

 the ventral surface. I then see her gradu- 

 ally recoiling along the Grey Worm, each 

 time seizing the back a little lower down, 

 clasping it with the mandibles, those wide 

 pincers with the curved jaws, and each time 



367 



