The Wisdom of Instinct 1 53 



antennae under her teeth. I know that she 

 does not suffer from shyness ; I know that she 

 will come and take from your fingers, without 

 hesitation, the prey which you have snatched 

 from her and afterwards present to her. But 

 what is this ? Scorning my offers, the Sphex 

 retreats instead of snapping up what I place 

 v/ithin her reach. I put down the Ephippiger, 

 who, obeying a thoughtless impulse, unconscious 

 of danger, goes straight to his assassin. Now 

 we shall see ! Alas, no : the Sphex continues 

 to recoil, like a regular coward, and ends by 

 flying away. I never saw her again. Thus 

 ended, to my confusion, an experiment that had 

 filled me with such enthusiasm. 



Later and by degrees, as I inspected an in- 

 creasing number of burrows, I came to under- 

 stand my failure and the obstinate refusal of 

 the Sphex. I always found the provisions to 

 consist, without a single exception, of a female 

 Ephippiger, harbouring in her belly a copious 

 and succulent cluster of eggs. This appears to 

 be the favourite food of the grubs. Well, in 

 my hurried rush through the vines, I had laid 

 my hands on an Ephippiger of the other sex. 

 I was offering the Sphex a male. More far- 

 seeing than I in this important question of 

 provender, the Wasp would have nothing to 

 say to my game : 



