Chapter ii 



THE GREAT CERCERIS 



With my memory full of the prowess of the 

 Buprestis-huntress, I watched for an oppor- 

 tunity to observe in my turn the labours of 

 the Cerceres ; and I watched to such good 

 purpose that I ended by being successful. 

 True, the Wasp was not the one celebrated by 

 Leon Dufour, with her sumptuous victuals whose 

 remains, when unearthed, suggest the dust of 

 some nugget broken by the gold-miner's pick : 

 it was a kindred species, a gigantic brigand 

 who contents herself with humbler prey ; in 

 short, it was Cerceris tuberculata or C. major, 

 the largest and most powerful of the genus. 



The last fortnight in September is the time 

 when our Burrowing Wasp digs her lairs and 

 buries in their depths the victim destined for 

 her grubs. The site of the home, always 

 selected with discrimination, is subject to those 

 mysterious laws which differ in different species 

 but are invariable throughout any one species. 



Leon Dufour's Cerceris requires a level, well- 

 is 



