88 The Huntmg Wasps 



make its way back to the spot at which it slakes 

 its appetite ? The shghtest movement would 

 enable the victim to rid itself of the atom 

 gnawing at its entrails ; and yet the gigantic 

 prey submits meekly, without the least quiver 

 of protest. I well know that it is paralysed, 

 that it has lost the use of its legs through the 

 sting of its murderess ; but still, recent victim 

 that it is, it retains more or less power of 

 movement and sensation in the regions not 

 affected by the dart. The abdomen throbs, 

 the mandibles open and close, the abdominal 

 filaments wave to and fro, as do the antennae. 

 What would happen if the worm were to bite 

 into one of the still impressionable parts, near 

 the mandibles, or even on the belly, which, 

 being more tender and more succulent, seems 

 as though it ought, after all, to supply the first 

 mouthfuls of the feeble grub ? Bitten to the 

 quick, the Cricket, Locust or Ephippiger would 

 at least shiver ; and this faint tremor of the 

 skin would be enough to shake off the tiny 

 larva and bring it to the ground, where it 

 would no doubt perish, for it might at any 

 moment find itself in the grips of those dreadful 

 mandibles. 



But there is one part of the body where no 

 such danger is to be feared, the part which 

 the Wasp has wounded with her sting — in short, 



