The Travellers 221 



larvae slumbering in their cells. It is, then, by 

 a most rare exception that the Hairy Ammo- 

 phila, hatched in the hot season, spends the 

 following winter in some warm shelter ; and 

 this is the reason why she appears so very early 

 in the spring. 



With these data to go upon, let us try to 

 explain the cluster of Ammophilae which I 

 observed on the ridges of Mont Ventoux. 

 What could these numerous Wasps have been 

 doing, heaped up under their stone ? Were 

 they preparing to take up their winter quarters 

 there and, slumbering under cover, to await 

 the season favourable to their work ? Every- 

 thing tends to show that this is improbable. 

 It is not in August, at the hottest time of year, 

 that an animal is overcome with its winter 

 drowsiness. Nor is it any use to suggest the 

 want of food, of honeyed juices sucked from 

 the flowers. The September showers are at 

 hand ; and vegetation, suspended for a moment 

 by the heat of the dog-days, will gather fresh 

 vigour and cover the fields with blossoms 

 almost as diverse as those of spring. This 

 season of revelry for the majority of Wasps and 

 Bees could never be a period of torpor for the 

 Hairy Ammophila. 



And then have we any right to imagine that 

 the heights of Ventoux, swept by the gusts of 



