278 The Hunting JVasps 



nimbly makes off ; and, once on the wing, it 

 can defy its pursuer. The Wasp has to pounce 

 upon her prey unawares, without considering 

 how she shall attack or calculating her blows, 

 just as the Goshawk does when hunting in the 

 fallows. Mandibles, claws, sting, every weapon 

 must be employed simultaneously in the fierce 

 fray so as to put an end as early as possible to 

 a contest in which the least hesitation would 

 give the victim time to escape. If these con- 

 jectures are borne out by the facts, the Bembex' 

 prize can be nothing but a corpse or at most 

 a mortally wounded prey. 



Well, my conjectures are correct : the Bembex 

 delivers her attack with a dash which would 

 do credit to a bird of prey. To surprise the 

 Wasp hunting is not an easy thing ; were we 

 never so well armed with patience, we should 

 watch in vain in the neighbourhood of the 

 burrow : the favourable opportunity would not 

 present itself, for the insect flies far away and 

 there is no possibility of following it in its rapid 

 evolutions. Its tactics would doubtless be 

 unknown to me but for the assistance of a 

 utensil from which I would certainly never 

 have expected such a service. I am speaking 

 of my umbrella, which I used as a protection 

 against the sun in the sand of the Bois des 

 Issarts. 



