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THE SPIIEGES. 



MANY species of the Sphex are common in 

 England. They are chiefly found in woods and 

 hedges ; and their larv<e feed on dead insects, in the 

 bodies of which the parent Spheges lay their eggs. 



Some of the species dig holes in the earth, like 

 dogs, with their tore feet, in each of which they 

 bury a dead insect, after depositing their eggs in its 

 body, and then carefully close them up again with 

 earth. 



No creatures whatever display greater affection 

 for their offspring than these ; nor are any more ra- 

 pacious. They are excessively fierce, and, without 

 hesitation, attack insects much larger than them- 

 selves. Their strength is very great, their jaws are 

 hard and sharp, and their stings armed with a poison, 

 which suddenly proves fatal to most of the creatures 

 with which they engage. The Sphex seizes with 

 the greatest boldness on the creature it attacks, giv- 

 ing a stroke with amazing force, then falling off to 

 rest from the fatigue of the exertion, and to enjoy 

 the victory. It keeps, however, a steady eye on the 

 object it has struck till it dies, and then drags it to 

 its nest for the use of the young. The number of 

 insects that this creature destroys is almost beyond 

 conception, fifty scarcely serving for a meal : the 

 mangled remains about the mouth of its retreat 

 sufficiently betray the sanguinary inhabitant. The 

 eves, the filament that serves as a brain, and a small 

 part of the contents of the body, are all that the 

 Sphex eats. 



