1 88 The Hjiiiting IVasps 



Sphex hunts down her prey, lays an egg and 

 closes her burrow. The hunting has been done ; 

 the game, it is true, has been withdrawn by 

 me from the cell ; never mind : the hunting 

 has been done, the ^g'g has been laid ; and 

 now comes the business of closing up the home. 

 This is what the insect does, without another 

 thought, without in the least suspecting the 

 futility of her present labours. 



Experiment III 



To know everything and to know nothing, 

 according as it acts under normal or exceptional 

 conditions : that is the strange antithesis pre- 

 sented by the insect race. Other examples, 

 also drawn from the Sphex tribe, will confirm 

 this conclusion. The White-edged Sphex 

 (5. alhisecta) attacks medium-sized Locusts, 

 whereof the different species to be found in the 

 neighbourhood of the burrow all furnish her 

 with their tribute of victims. Because of the 

 abundance of these Acridians, there is no need 

 to go hunting far afield. When the burrow, 

 which takes the form of a perpendicular shaft, 

 is ready, the Sphex merely explores the purlieus 

 of her lair, within a small radius, and is not 

 long in finding some Locust browsing in the 

 sunshine. To pounce upon her and sting her. 



