The Fly-hunt 275 



the Wasp returns laden with her prey and 

 watched by the sharp eyes of daring parasites. 

 These conditions could not be obtained with a 

 compact soil such as that in which the Digger- 

 wasps usually make their abodes : the door, left 

 to itself, would stay open ; and so, each time, 

 there would be the long and toilsome job of 

 either blocking up the entrance with earth and 

 gravel or unblocking it, as the case might be. 

 The house therefore must be dug in ground with 

 a very loose surface, in fine dry sand, which will 

 at once yield to the slightest effort on the 

 mother's part and, as it slides down, will close 

 the door of its own accord, like a curtain which, 

 when you thrust it aside with your hand, lets 

 you pass through and then falls back again. 

 There you have the series of actions as deduced 

 by man's reason and as practised by the Wasp's 

 sagacity. 



Why does the spoiler kill the captured prey 

 instead of simply paralysing it ? Is it for want 

 of skill in the use of her sting ? Is it because 

 of some difficulty due to the structure of the 

 Flies or to the methods employed in the chase ? 

 I must begin by confessing that I have failed 

 in my attempts to place Flies, without killing 

 them, in that state of complete immobility to 

 which it is so easy to reduce a Buprestis, a 

 Weevil or a Scarab by injecting a tiny drop of 



