BEES AND WASPS — GENERAL INTELLIGENCE. 195 



When an ant came up to a cluster of leaf-hoppers attended by 

 a wasp, the latter would not attempt to grapple with its rival 

 on the leaf, but would fly off and hover over the ant ; then 

 when its little foe was well exposed, it would dart at it and 

 strike it to the ground. The action was so quick that I could 

 not determine whether it struck with its fore-feet or its jaws ; 

 but I think it was with the feet. I often saw a wasp trying to 

 clear a leaf from ants that were already in full possession of a 

 cluster of leaf-hoppers. It would sometimes have to strike 

 three or four times at an ant before it made it quit its hold and 

 fall. At other times one ant after the other would be struck 

 off with great celerity and ease, and I fancied that some wasps 

 were much cleverer than others. In those cases where it suc- 

 ceeded in clearing the leaf, it was never left long in peace ; for 

 fresh relays of ants were continually arriving, and generally 

 tired the wasp out. It would never wait for an ant to get near 

 it, doubtless knowing well that if its little rival once fastened 

 on its leg, it would be a difficult matter to get rid of it again. 

 If a wasp fii'st obtained possession, it was able to keep it ; for 

 the first ants that came up were only pioneers, and by knocking 

 these off, it prevented them from returning and scenting the 

 trail to communicate the intelligence to others. 



Dr. Erasmus Darwin records an observation ' Zoo- 

 nomia,' i., p. 183) which, from having since been so widely 

 quoted, deserves to be called classical. He saw a wasp 

 upon the ground endeavouring to remove a large fly which 

 was too heavy for it to carry off. The wasp cut off the 

 head and abdomen, and flew away with the thorax alone. 

 The wind, however, catching the wings of this portion 

 made it still too unwieldy for the wasp to guide. It 

 therefore again alighted, and nipped off first one wing 

 and then the other, when it was able to fly off with its 

 booty without further difficulty. 



This observation has since been amply confirmed. I 

 shall quote some of the confirmatory cases. 



Mr. E. S. Newall, F.E.S., in Nature, vol. xxi., p. 494, 



Many years ago I was examining an apple tree, when a wasp 

 alighted on a leaf which formed a caterpillar's nest neatly rolled 

 up. The wasp examined both ends, and finding them closed, it 

 soon clipped a hole in the leaf at one end of the nest about one- 

 eighth of an inch in diameter. It then went to the other end 



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