The Hunting Wasps 



anticipated, is one that, to be properly con- 

 ducted, should be made at leisure in one's own 

 garden. I owe my success, therefore, to my 

 rustic laboratory. I make a present of the 

 secret to whosoever would continue those 

 magnificent studies: the harvest is inexhaust- 

 ible ; there will be sheaves for all. 



When we follow the Ammophila's hunting 

 in the due sequence of her actions, the first 

 question that suggests itself is this : how does 

 the Wasp go to work to recognize the spot 

 beneath which the Grey Worm lies? 



There is nothing outside, nothing, at least, 

 perceptible to the eye, to indicate the cater- 

 pillar's hiding-place. The soil that conceals 

 the quarry may be grassy or bare, flinty or 

 earthy, smooth or seamed with little cracks. 

 These varieties of appearance are matters 

 of indifference to the huntress, who prospects 

 every spot without showing preference for 

 one more than another. At no place where 

 the Wasp stops and digs with some persist- 

 ency do I see anything particular, in spite of 

 all my attention; and yet there must be a 

 Grey Worm there, as I have but now con- 

 vinced myself, five times in succession, by 

 lending a helping hand to the insect, which 

 was at first discouraged by a task out of pro- 

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