Chapter hi 



A SCIENTIFIC SLAUGHTERER 



The Wasp has told us part of her secret by 

 showing us the spot which her sting touches. 

 Does this solve the question ? Not yet, nor by 

 a long way. Let us go back for a moment, 

 forget what the insect has just taught us and, 

 in our turn, set ourselves the problem of the 

 Cerceris. The problem is this : to store under- 

 ground, in a cell, a big enough pile of game to 

 feed the larva which will be hatched from the 

 egg laid on the heap. 



At first sight this victualling seems simple 

 enough ; but a little reflection shows that it is 

 attended by very grave difficulties. Our own 

 game, for instance, is brought down by a shot 

 from a gun ; it is killed with horrible wounds. 

 The Wasp has refinements of taste unknown to 

 us : she must have the prey intact, with all its 

 elegance of form and colouring, no broken 

 limbs, no gaping wounds, no hideous disem- 

 bowelling. Her victim has all the freshness of 

 the live insect ; it retains, without the loss of 



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