The Animophilce 235 



as a temporary door, over the opening of the 

 burrow. To-morrow, when the weather is once 

 more hot and the sun bathes the slopes and 

 encourages hunting, the Wasp will know quite 

 well how to find her home, rendered inviolable 

 by the massive door ; she will come back with 

 a paralysed caterpillar, grasped by the skin of 

 its neck and dragged between its captor's legs ; 

 she will lift the slab, which nothing distinguishes 

 from other little stones around and which she 

 alone is able to identify ; she will let down the 

 game to the bottom of the well, lay her ^^^^, and 

 close the house for good by sweeping into the 

 perpendicular shaft all the rubbish which she 

 has kept in the vicinity. 



Time after time the Sandy Ammophila and 

 the Silvery Ammophila have shown me this 

 temporary closing of the hole when the sun 

 begins to go down and when the lateness of the 

 hour compels the victualling to be put off till 

 the morrow. When the dwelling had been 

 sealed up by the Wasp, I too would postpone 

 my observations till the next day, but only 

 after first making a map of the ground, choosing 

 my lines and landmarks and planting a few 

 stalks as signposts to show me the way to the 

 well when it was filled. If I did not come back 

 very early in the morning, if I left the Wasp 

 time to take advantage of the hours of bright 



