taches to the point at which her lancet
is to penetrate the flesh.

Meanwhile, the larva continues to move along on its back. Suddenly it
curls up; with a stroke of its head it hurls the enemy to a distance.
Undiscouraged by all her set-backs, the Wasp picks herself up, brushes
her wings and resumes her attack upon the colossus, almost always by
mounting the larva's hinder end. At last after all these fruitless
attempts, the Scolia succeeds in achieving the correct position. She
is seated athwart the Cetonia-grub; the mandibles grip a point on the
dorsal surface of the thorax; the body, bent into a bow, passes under
the larva and with the tip of the belly reaches the region of the neck.
The Cetonia-grub, placed in serious peril, writhes, coils and uncoils
itself, spinning round upon its axis. The Scolia does not interfere.
Holding the victim tightly gripped, she turns with it, allows herself to
be dragged upwards, downwards, sidewards, following its contortions. Her
obstinacy is such that I can now remove the bell-glass and follow the
details of the drama in the open.

Briefly, in spite of the turmoil, the tip of the abdomen feels that the
right spot has been found. Then and only then the sting is unsheathed.
It plunges in. The thing is done. The larva, at first plump and active,
suddenly becomes flaccid and inert. It is paralysed. Henceforth there
are no movements save of the antennae and the mouthparts, which will for
a long time yet bear witness to a remnant of life. The point wounded
has never varied in the series of combats under glass: it occupies
the middle of the line of demarcation between the prothorax and the
mesothorax, on the ventral surface. Note that the Cerceres, operating on
Weevils, whose nervous system is as compact as the Cetonia-grub's,
drive in the needle at the same spot. Similarity of nervous organization
occasions similarity of method. Note also that the Scolia's sting
remains in the wound for some time and roots about with marked
persistence. Judging by the movements of the tip of the abdomen, one
would certainly say that the weapon is exploring and selecting. Free to
shift in one direction or the other, within narrow limits, its point is
most probably seeking for the little mass of nerve-tissue which must
be pricked, or at least sprinkled with poison, to obtain overwhelming
paralysis.

I will not close this report of the duel without relating a few further
facts, of minor importance. The Tw