2i6 The Hunting Wasps 



with every possible care the flat stone that 

 sheltered them, as well as the ground under- 

 neath and just around it, and discovered not a 

 thing to tell me the cause of this strange assem- 

 blage. Having nothing better left to do, I 

 tried to count them ; and it was then that the 

 clouds came and put an end to my observations 

 and plunged us into that darkness of which I 

 have described the anxious consequences. At 

 the first drops of rain, before leaving the spot, 

 I hastened to put back the stone and replace 

 the Ammophilae in their shelter. I give myself 

 a good mark, which I hope that the reader will 

 confirm, for having taken the precaution not to 

 leave the poor insects whom my curiosity had 

 disturbed at the mercy of the downpour. 



The Hairy Ammophila is not rare in the 

 plains, but she is always found singly by the 

 side of the paths or on the sandy slopes, now 

 engaged in digging her well, anon busily carting 

 her heavy caterpillar. She lives alone, like the 

 Languedocian Sphex ; and it was a great sur- 

 prise to me to come upon such a number of this 

 species collected under one and the same stone 

 almost at the top of Mont Ventoux. Instead 

 of the isolated specimen which I had known 

 hitherto, a crowded company presented itself 

 to my eyes. Let us try to trace the probable 

 causes of this agglomeration. 



