The Ignorance of Instinct 189 



despite her kicking, is to the Sphex the matter 

 of a moment. After some fluttering of its 

 wings, which unfurl their carmine or azure 

 fan, after some drowsy stretching of its legs, 

 the victim ceases to move. It has now to be 

 brought home, on foot. For this laborious 

 operation the Sphex employs the same method 

 as her kinswomen, that is to say, she drags her 

 prize along between her legs, holding one of 

 its antennae in her mandibles. If she en- 

 counters some grassy jungle, she goes hopping 

 and flitting from blade to blade, without ever 

 letting slip her prey. When at last she comes 

 within a few feet of her dwelling, she performs 

 a manoeuvre which is also practised by the 

 Languedocian Sphex ; but she does not attach 

 as much importance to it, for she frequently 

 neglects it. Leaving her captive on the road, 

 the Wasp hurries home, though no apparent 

 danger threatens her abode, and puts her head 

 through the entrance several times, even going 

 part of the way down the burrow. She next 

 returns to the Locust and, after bringing her 

 nearer the goal, leaves her a second time to 

 revisit the burrow. This performance is re- 

 peated over and over again, always with the 

 same anxious haste. 



These visits are sometimes followed by 

 grievous accidents. The victim, rashly aban- 



