72 The Hunting JVasps 



explanation of the obstinacy of the Sphex- 

 wasps in going down their tunnels before carry- 

 ing in their prey. Can they have some other 

 object besides that of dislodging a parasite who 

 may have arrived during their absence ? This 

 is what I despair of ever knowing ; for who 

 can interpret the thousand ruses of instinct ? 

 Poor human reason, which cannot even fathom 

 the wisdom of a Sphex ! 



At any rate, it has been proved that these 

 ruses are singularly invariable. In this con- 

 nection I will mention an experiment which 

 interested me greatly. Here are the par- 

 ticulars : at the moment when the Sphex is 

 making her domiciliary visit, I take the Cricket 

 left at the entrance to the dwelling and place her 

 a few inches farther away. The Sphex comes 

 up, utters her usual cry, looks here and there 

 in astonishment, and, seeing the game too far 

 off, comes out of her hole to seize it and bring 

 it back to its right place. Having done this, 

 she goes down again, but alone. I play the 

 same trick upon her ; and the Sphex has the 

 same disappointment on her arrival at the 

 entrance. The victim is once more dragged 

 back to the edge of the hole, but the Wasp 

 always goes down alone ; and this goes on as 

 long as my patience is not exhausted. Time 

 after time, forty times over, did I repeat the 



