232 The Hunting Wasps 



landslips on the slightest provocation. Their 

 perpendicular shaft, which has to remain open 

 until the cell receives the provisions and an 

 ^g^, requires a firmer setting if it is not to be 

 prematurely blocked. What they want is a 

 light soil, easily tunnelled, in which the sandy 

 element is cemented with a little clay and lime. 

 Edges of paths, sunny banks where the grass 

 is rather bare : those are the favourite spots. 

 In spring, quite early in April, we see the Hairy 

 Ammophila [A . hirsuta) there ; when September 

 and October come, we find the Sandy Ammo- 

 phila (A. sabulosa), the Silvery Ammophila 

 (A. argentata), and the Silky Ammophila (A. 

 holosericea). I will here condense the informa- 

 tion which I have gathered from the four species. 

 In the case of all four the burrow is a vertical 

 shaft, a sort of well, possessing at most the 

 diameter of a thick goose-quill and a depth of 

 about two inches. At the bottom is the cell, 

 which is always solitary and consists of a mere 

 widening of the entrance-shaft. It is, when 

 all is said, a poor lodging, obtained economically, 

 in one day's work ; the larva will find no pro- 

 tection there against the winter except from the 

 four wrappers of its cocoon, copied from that 

 of the Sphex. The Ammophila digs by herself, 

 quietly, without hurrying, without any joyous 

 enthusiasm. As usual, the fore-tarsi serve as 



