might of its jaws, to anchor itself
there. Hence inertia of the powerful hooks, which are the paralysed
creature's sole means of resistance, becomes essential during the
carting. The Ammophila obtains it by compressing the cerebral ganglia,
by munching the neck. The inertia is temporary; it wears off sooner
or later; but by this time the carcase is in the cell and the egg,
prudently laid at a distance on the ventral surface of the worm, has
nothing to fear from the caterpillar's grapnels. No comparison is
permissible between the methodical squeezes of the Ammophila benumbing
the cephalic nerve-centres and the brutal manipulations of the
Philanthus emptying the crop of her Bee. The huntress of Grey Worms
induces a temporary torpor of the mandibles; the ravisher of Bees makes
them eject their honey. No one gifted with the least perspicacity will
confound the two operations.

For the moment we will not dwell any longer on the method of the
Hairy Ammophila; we will see instead how her kinswomen behave. After
protracted refusals the Sandy Ammophila (A. sabulosa, FAB.),on whom
I experimented in September, ended by accepting the proffered prey, a
powerful caterpillar as thick as a lead-pencil. The surgical method did
not differ from that employed by the Hairy Ammophila when operating on
her Grey Worm in one spell. All the segments, excepting the last three,
were stung from front to back, beginning with the prothorax. This single
success with a simplified method left me in ignorance of the accessory
manoeuvres, which I do not doubt must more or less closely recall those
of the preceding species.

I am all the more inclined to accept these secondary manoeuvres, not
as yet recorded--the transports of triumph and the compressions of the
neck--inasmuch as I see them practised upon the Looper caterpillars,
which differ so greatly from the others in external structure, exactly
as I have described them in the case of the Grey Worm, which is of the
ordinary form. Two species, the Silky Ammophila (A. holoserica,
FAB.) and Jules' Ammophila (See in the first volume of the "Souvenirs
entomologiques" what I mean by this denomination.--Author's Note.),
affect this curious prey, which moves with the stride of a pair of
compasses. The first, often renewed under glass during the greater part
of August, has always refused my offers; the second, her contemporary,
has, on the contrary, promptly accepted them.

I present Jules' Ammophila with a