140 The H tinting IVasps 



is a source of friendly rivalry. This first step 

 towards social life comes from facilities for 

 travelling. Do not things happen in the same 

 way with man, if I may be permitted the com- 

 parison ? Wlien he has nothing but trackless 

 paths, man builds a solitary hut ; when supplied 

 with good roads, he and his fellows collect in 

 populous cities ; when served by railways which, 

 so to speak, annihilate distance, they assemble 

 in those immense human hives called London 

 or Paris. 



The situation of the Languedocian Sphex is 

 just the reverse. Her prey is a heavy Ephip- 

 piger, a single dish representing by itself the 

 sum total of provisions which the other free- 

 booters amass on numerous journeys, insect 

 by insect. What the Cerceres and the other 

 plunderers strong on the wing accomplish by 

 dividing the labour she does in a single journey. 

 The weight of the prey makes any distant 

 flight impossible ; it has to be brought home 

 slowly and laboriously, for it is a troublesome 

 business to cart things along the ground. 

 This alone makes the site of the burrow de- 

 pendent on the accidents of the chase : the 

 prey comes first and the dwelling next. So 

 there is no assembling at a common meeting- 

 place, no association of kindred spirits, no 

 tribes stimulating one another in their work 



