The Odyneri 



tions as may be required, the case of the 

 Eumenes will remain a very curious instance, 

 without acquiring the far-reaching sig- 

 nificance which I suspect it of bearing. Let 

 us generalize, the better to establish the 

 facts. 



Now not far removed from the Eumenes 

 are the Odyneri, the Solitary Wasps ob- 

 served by Reaumur. 1 They have the 

 same costumes, the same wings folded 

 lengthwise, the same predatory instincts 

 and, above all, as the supreme condition, 

 the same accumulations of prey retaining 

 sufficient power of movement to be danger- 

 ous. If my arguments are well-founded, if 

 I am right in my conjectures, the egg of the 

 Odynerus should be slung from the ceiling 

 of the cell like the egg of the Eumenes. My 

 conviction, based upon logic, is so positive 

 that I already seem to see this egg, recently 

 laid, quivering at the end of the life-line. 



Ah, I confess that it needed a robust faith 

 to cherish the audacious hope of discov- 

 ering anything further when the masters 

 had seen nothing! I read and reread 

 Reaumur's essay on the Solitary Wasp. 



1 Rene Antoine Ferchault de Reaumur (1683-1757), in- 

 ventor of the Reaumur thermometer and author of 

 Mtmoires pour servir a I'histoire naturelle des insectes. 

 Translator's Note. 



29 



