268 
Psyche 
[September 
but on top of a small obstacle (pebble, clump of earth, etc.) and in 
a special “freezing posture” (see Plate 23, d and i and Steiner, 
1962). In most instances the wasp did not pounce on it subsequently. 
In only one out of the few instances it did so, actual stinging fol- 
lowed. In one other instance the wasp grasped the cricket after 
having pounced on it, but released it immediately, still in the same 
state, after an abortive attempt at stinging. In the majority of in- 
stances observed, the wasp circled the “frozen cricket” several times 
and walked away (see e, j). “Freezing” in the posture represented 
in figure d was sometimes observed after the wasp pounced back on 
a cricket investigated shortly before (see b). 
Discussion is centered around the three following questions: 
1. What is relevant to the response of the cricket in the hunting 
context ? 
2. Does the response of the cricket influence the hunting behavior 
of the wasp, and if so how and why? 
3. What is the meaning of the different postures and responses of 
the cricket, and what are the mechanisms involved ? 
1. What is relevant to the response of the cricket in the hunting 
context f In general, freezing responses were associated with the 
following exceptional conditions: 
a. Wasp-cricket interactions involved repeated or disrupted at- 
tacks of increasing vigor at short intervals. It is not known whether 
repetition and disruption of attacks are the important factors or the 
short interval, delay, separating them or their rapid increase in vigor. 
Even the perseverance of the wasp might be involved. No freezing 
has been observed early in the hunting phase, when attacks of the 
wasps are weak and abortive. 
b. Proximity of an obstacle in the environment might induce the 
escaping cricket to stop. If the obstacle is too small for sheltering, 
jumping away from the top of it might be attempted but ultimately 
inhibited (see Plate 23, the posture shown on figure i and ques- 
tion 3, below). - 
2. Does the response of the cricket influence the behavior of the 
wasp and if so, how and why? “Frozen” crickets were investigated 
by the wasp, attacked and stung in only a very low proportion of 
the observed instances (one would rather expect the contrary in 
situations of disrupted attacks). 
If it is not an artifact of small sampling, this apparent effect 
could be related to absence of movement of the cricket or to other 
properties of the freezing posture or both. Attack and stinging evi- 
dently depend strongly, but not exclusively^ on movement. In general, 
