第68章 THE METHOD OF THE AMMOPHILAE(3)

I have still to obtain the Grey Worm. This means a repetition of the disappointments which I had before, when, to find a caterpillar, I was obliged to watch the Ammophila while hunting and to be guided by her hints, as the truffle-hunter is guided by the scent of his Dog. A patient exploration of the harmas, one tuft of thyme after another, does not give me a single worm. My rivals in this search are finding their game at every moment; I cannot find it even once. Yet one more reason for bowing to the superiority of the insect in the management of her affairs. My band of schoolboys get to work in the surrounding fields. Nothing, always nothing!

I in my turn explore the outer world; and for ten days the pursuit of a caterpillar torments me till I lose my power of sleep. Then, at last, victory! At the foot of a sunny wall, under the budding rosettes of the panicled centaury, I find a fair supply of the precious Grey Worm or its equivalent.

Behold the worm and the Ammophila face to face beneath the bell-glass.

Usually the attack is prompt enough. The caterpillar is grabbed by the neck with the mandibles, wide, curved pincers capable of embracing the greater part of the living cylinder. The creature thus seized twists and turns and sometimes, with a blow of its tail, sends the assailant rolling to a distance. The latter is unconcerned and thrusts her sting thrice in rapid succession into the thorax, beginning with the third segment and ending with the first, where the weapon is driven home with greater determination than elsewhere.

The caterpillar is then released. The Ammophila stamps on the ground; with her quivering tarsi she taps the cardboard on which the bell-glass stands;she lies down flat, drags herself along, gets up again, flattens herself once more. The wings jerk convulsively. From time to time the insect places its mandibles and forehead on the ground, then rears high upon its hind-legs as though to turn head over heels. In all this I see a manifestation of delight. We rub our hands when rejoicing at a success; the Ammophila is celebrating her triumph over the monster in her own fashion. During this fit of delirious joy, what is the wounded caterpillar doing? It can no longer walk; but all the part behind the thorax struggles violently, curling and uncurling when the Ammophila sets a foot upon it. The mandibles open and shut menacingly.

SECOND ACT.--When the operation is resumed, the caterpillar is seized by the back. From front to rear, in order, all the segments are stung on the ventral surface, except the three operated on. All serious danger is averted by the stabs of the first act; therefore, the Wasp is now able to work upon her patient without the haste displayed at the outset.

Deliberately and methodically she drives in her lancet, withdraws it, selects the spot, stabs it and begins again, passing from segment to segment, taking care, each time, to lay hold of the back a little more to the rear, in order to bring the segment to be paralysed within reach of the needle. For the second time, the caterpillar is released. It is absolutely inert, except the mandibles, which are still capable of biting.

THIRD ACT.--The Ammophila clasps the paralysed victim between her legs;with the hooks of her mandibles she seizes the back of its neck, at the base of the first thoracic segment. For nearly ten minutes she munches this weak spot, which lies close to the cerebral nerve-centres. The pincers squeeze suddenly but at intervals and methodically, as though the manipulator wished each time to judge of the effect produced; the squeezes are repeated until I am tired of trying to count them. When they cease, the caterpillar's mandibles are motionless. Then comes the transportation of the carcase, a detail which is not relevant in this place.

I have set forth the complete tragedy, as it is fairly often enacted, but not always. The insect is not a machine, unvarying in the effect of its mechanism; it is allowed a certain latitude, enabling it to cope with the eventualities of the moment. Any one expecting to see the incidents of the struggle unfolding themselves exactly as I have described will risk disappointment. Special instances occur--they are even numerous--which are more or less at variance with the general rule. It will be well to mention the more important, in order to put future observers on their guard.

Not infrequently the first act, that of paralysing the thorax, is restricted to two thrusts of the sting instead of three, or even to one, which is then delivered in the foremost segment. This, it would seem, from the persistency with which the Ammophila inflicts it, is the most important prick of all. Is it unreasonable to suppose that the operator, when she begins by pricking the thorax, intends to subdue her capture and to make it incapable of injuring her, or even of disturbing her when the moment comes for the delicate and protracted surgery of the second act? This idea seems to me highly admissible; and then, instead of three dagger-thrusts, why not two only, why not merely one, if this would suffice for the time being? The amount of vigour displayed by the caterpillar must be taken into consideration. Be this as it may, the segments spared in the first act are stabbed in the second. I have sometimes even seen the three thoracic segments stung twice over: at the beginning of the attack and again when the Wasp returned to her vanquished prey.

The Ammophila's triumphant transports beside her wounded and writhing victim are also subject to exceptions. Sometimes, without releasing its prey for a moment, the insect proceeds from the thorax to the next segments and completes its operation in a single spell. The joyous entr'acte does not take place; the convulsive movements of the wings and the acrobatic postures are suppressed.

The rule is paralysis of all the segments, however many, in regular order from front to back, including even the anal segment if this boast of legs.