What difficulties, on the other hand, await the Scolia! She hunts
underground, in the blackest darkness. Her movements are laboured and
uncertain, owing to the mould, which is continually giving way all round
her; she cannot keep her eyes on the terrible mandibles, which are capable
of cutting her body in two with a single bite. Moreover, the Cetonia-grub,
perceiving that the enemy is approaching, assumes its defensive posture,
rolls itself up and makes a shield for its only vulnerable part, the
ventral surface, with its convex back. No, it cannot be an easy operation
to subdue the powerful larva in its underground retreat and to stab with
the precision which immediate paralysis requires.

We wish that we might witness the struggle between the two adversaries and
see at first hand what happens, but we cannot hope to succeed. It all takes
place in the mysterious darkness of the soil; in broad daylight, the attack
would not be delivered, for the victim must remain where it is and then and
there receive the egg, which is unable to thrive and develop except under
the warm cover of vegetable mould. If direct observation is impracticable,
we can at least foresee the main outlines of the drama by allowing
ourselves to be guided by the warlike manoeuvres of other burrowers.

I picture things thus: digging and rummaging through the heap of mould,
guided perhaps by that singular sensibility of the antennae which enables
the Hairy Ammophila to discover the Grey Worm (The caterpillar of the
Turnip Moth. Cf. "The Hunting Wasps": chapters 18 to 20.--Translator's
Note.) underground, the Scolia ends by finding a Cetonia-larva, a good
plump one, in the pink of condition, having reached its full growth, just
what the grub which is to feed on it requires. Forthwith, the assaulted
victim, contracting desperately, rolls itself into a ball. The other seizes
it by the skin of the neck. To unroll it is impossible to the insect, for I
myself have some trouble in doing so. One single point is accessible to the