FIELD AND STUDY 



prey to its den by laying hold of some appendage of 

 the head, as the antennse or the palpi. Remove these 

 after the wasp has brought its game to its door, 

 and the little automaton is powerless to complete 

 its job. It could just as easily haul its beetle in the 

 hole by the leg or the ovipositor, — that is, back- 

 wards, instead of head first, — but this it has never 

 done; it is not so written in the tablet of its mind; 

 the game must go in head foremost. In such a pre- 

 dicament the wasp hesitates, washes its face and 

 eyes, seems to reflect a moment, then tries to seize 

 the game by the head, but her mandibles slip off 

 the polished skull, and she finally abandons the 

 task as hopeless and goes away in quest of a new 

 victim. 



Fabre interrupted this same species of wasp when 

 it had stored its game in its hole and was stopping 

 up the entrance and preparing to leave it forever. 

 He opened the hole with his penknife and removed 

 the beetle w^hile the wasp stood looking on. When he 

 had finished, the wasp reentered her den, inspected 

 it carefully, as in the first instance, and then pro- 

 ceeded to close it up as before, with great care and 

 deliberation. That her game, and the egg she had 

 laid upon it were gone, made no difference; she must 

 follow out the programme, one act must follow 

 another in its proper order. 



The wasp always explores her hole the last thing 

 before hauling in her game, and if you interrupt the 



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