United States or Saint Pierre and Miquelon ? Vote for the TOP Country of the Week !
If the strokes were real, I should see bleeding wounds, I should see the fangs close for a moment on the part seized; and with all my attention I cannot detect anything of the kind. Then are the fangs powerless to pierce the Wasp's integuments? Not so. I have seen them penetrate, with a crackling of broken armour, the corselet of the Acridians, which offers a far greater resistance.
In a certain gravel-pit in the neighbourhood, with vertical walls visited by the sun, I have been able within a short space of time to collect enough to fill the hollow of my hand completely. They differ from the cocoons of the preceding species only in their smaller size. The provisions consist of young Acridians, varying from about a quarter to half an inch in length.
It was thus that I reared the Tarsal Bembex, which eats Anthrax-flies and other Diptera, on young Locustidae or Mantidae; the Silky Ammophila, whose diet consists chiefly of Measuring-worms, on small Spiders; the pot-making Pelopaeus, a Spider-eater, on tender Acridians; the Sand Cerceris, a passionate lover of Weevils, on Halicti; the Bee-eating Philanthus, which feeds exclusively on Hive-bees, on Eristales and other Flies.
It was magnificent. I am speaking of the Grey Locust, the colossus among our acridians, which is often seen among the vines in September when the grapes are gathered. By its size and it grows as long as a man's finger it lends itself to observation better than any other of its tribe.
Word Of The Day