352 The Hunting Wasps 



Ammophila in a garden may mean the saving of 

 a lettuce-bed, the snatching of a balsam-border 

 from danger. But there is need here for recom- 

 mendations. None would dream of destroying 

 the pretty Wasp that goes fluttering nimbly 

 from one path to the other, that visits this 

 corner of the garden, then that, then the next, 

 then the one over there ; none dreams either — 

 and none, unfortunately, can dream — of assist- 

 ing her to multiply. 



In the immense majority of cases the insect 

 evades our influence : to exterminate it, if it 

 be harmful, to propagate it, if it be useful, 

 are impracticable undertakings for us. By a 

 singular contrast of strength and weakness, man 

 cuts through the neck of continents to join two 

 seas, he pierces the Alps, he weighs the sun ; 

 and yet he cannot prevent a wretched maggot 

 from enjoying his cherries before he himself 

 does, nor an odious Louse from destroying his 

 vines ! The Titan is vanquished by the pigmy. 

 Now we have here, in this insect-world, an 

 auxiliary of high merit, the supreme foe of our 

 grievous foe the Grey Worm. Can we do any- 

 thing to stock our fields and gardens with it at 

 will ? We cannot ; for the first condition of 

 multiplying the Ammophila would be to multiply 

 the Grey Worm, the only food of her family of 

 grubs. I do not speak of the insurmountable 



