Produced by Sue AsscherMORE HUNTING WASPSBy J Henri FabreTranslated By Alexander Teixeira De Mattos F Z STRANSLATORS NOTEThe fourteen chapters contained in this volume complete the list ofessays in the Souvenirs entomologiques devoted to Wasps The remainderwill be found in the two earlier volumes of this collected editionentitled The Hunting Wasps and the Masonwasps respectivelyChapter 2 has appeared before in my version of The Life and Love ofthe Insect an illustrated volume of extracts translated by myself andpublished by Messrs Adam and Charles Black in America by the MacmillanCo and Chapter 10 in a similar miscellany translated by Mr BernardMiall published by Messrs T Fisher Unwin Ltd in America by theCentury Co under the title of Social Life in the Insect World Thesetwo chapters are included in the present book by arrangement with theoriginal firmsI wish to place on record my thanks to Mr Miall for the valuableassistance which he has given me in preparing this translationALEXANDER TEIXEIRA DE MATTOSVentnor I W 6 December 1920CONTENTS     TRANSLATORS NOTE     CHAPTER 1 THE POMPILI     CHAPTER 2 THE SCOLIAE     CHAPTER 3 A DANGEROUS DIET     CHAPTER 4 THE CETONIALARVA     CHAPTER 5 THE PROBLEM OF THE SCOLIAE     CHAPTER 6 THE TACHYTES     CHAPTER 7 CHANGE OF DIET     CHAPTER 8 A DIG AT THE EVOLUTIONISTS     CHAPTER 9 RATIONING ACCORDING TO SEX     CHAPTER 10 THE BEEEATING PHILANTHUS     CHAPTER 11 THE METHOD OF THE AMMOPHILAE     CHAPTER 12 THE METHOD OF THE SCOLIAE     CHAPTER 13 THE METHOD OF THE CALICURGI     CHAPTER 14 OBJECTIONS AND REJOINDERS     INDEXCHAPTER 1 THE POMPILIThis essay should be read in conjunction with that on the BlackbelliedTarantula Cf The Life of the Spider by J Henri Fabre translatedby Alexander Teixeira de Mattos chapter 1Translators NoteThe Ammophilas caterpillar Cf The Hunting Wasps by J Henri Fabretranslated by Alexander Teixeira de Mattos chapters 13 and 18 to 20and Chapter 11 of the present volumeTranslators Note the BembexCf idem chapter 14Translators Note Gadfly the Cerceris Cfidem chapters 1 to 3Translators Note Buprestis A Beetleusually remarkable for her brilliant colouring Cf idem chapter1Translators Note and Weevil the Sphex Cf idem chapter 4 to10Translators Note Locust Cricket and Ephippiger Cf The Lifeof the Grasshopper by J Henri Fabre translated by AlexanderTeixeira de Mattos chapters 13 and 14Translators Note allthese inoffensive peaceable victims are like the silly Sheep of ourslaughterhouses they allow themselves to be operated upon by theparalyser submitting stupidly without offering much resistance Themandibles gape the legs kick and protest the body wriggles and twistsand that is all They have no weapons capable of contending with theassassins dagger I should like to see the huntress grappling withan imposing adversary one as crafty as herself an expert layer ofambushes and like her bearing a poisoned dirk I should like to seethe bandit armed with her stiletto confronted by another bandit equallyfamiliar with the use of that weapon Is such a duel possible Yes itis quite possible and even quite common On the one hand we have thePompili the protagonists who are always victorious on the other handwe have the Spiders the protagonists who are always overthrownWho that has diverted himself however little with the study of insectsdoes not know the Pompili Against old walls at the foot of the banksbeside unfrequented footpaths in the stubble after the harvest in thetangles of dry grass wherever the Spider spreads her nets who has notseen them busily at work now running hither and thither at randomtheir wings raised and quivering above their backs now moving fromplace to place in flights long or short They are hunting for a quarrywhich might easily turn the tables and itself prey upon the trapperlying in wait for itThe Pompili feed their larvae solely on Spiders and the Spiders feed onany insect commensurate with their size that is caught in their netsWhile the first possess a sting the second have two poisoned fangsOften their strength is equally matched indeed the advantage isnot seldom on the Spiders side The Wasp has her ruses of war hercunningly premeditated strokes the Spider has her wiles and her settraps the first has the advantage of great rapidity of movement whilethe second is able to rely upon her perfidious web the one has a stingwhich contrives to penetrate the exact point to cause paralysis theother has fangs which bite the back of the neck and deal sudden deathWe find the paralyser on the one hand and the slaughterer on the otherWhich of the two will become the others preyIf we consider only the relative strength of the adversaries the powerof their weapons the virulence of their poisons and their differentmodes of action the scale would very often be weighted in favour of theSpider Since the Pompilus always emerges victorious from this contestwhich appears to be full of peril for her she must have a specialmethod of which I would fain learn the secretIn our part of the country the most powerful and courageousSpiderhuntress is the Ringed Pompilus Calicurgus annulatus FABclad in black and yellow She stands high on her legs and her wingshave black tips the rest being yellow as though exposed to smoke likea bloater Her size is about that of the Hornet Vespa crabro She israre I see three or four of her in the course of the year and I neverfail to halt in the presence of the proud insect rapidly stridingthrough the dust of the fields when the dogdays arrive Its audaciousair its uncouth gait its warlike bearing long made me suspect thatto obtain its prey it had to make some impossible terrible unspeakablecapture And my guess was correct By dint of waiting and watchingI beheld that victim I saw it in the huntress mandibles It is theBlackbellied