keeps the two families far removed from each other because of
considerations and attaching to the nervures of the wings and the joints of
the palpi. At the risk of passing for a heretic, I bring them together at
the suggestion of the menu-card.

To my own knowledge, my part of the country possesses five species, one and
all addicted to a diet of Orthoptera. Panzer's Tachytes (T. Panzeri, VAN
DER LIND), girdled with red at the base of the abdomen, must be pretty
rare. I surprise her from time to time working on the hard roadside banks
and the trodden edges of the footpaths. There, to a depth of an inch at
most, she digs her burrows, each isolated from the rest. Her prey is an
adult, medium-sized Acridian (Locust or Grasshopper.--Translator's Note.),
such as the White-banded Sphex pursues. The captive of the one would not be
despised by the other. Gripped by the antennae, according to the ritual of
the Sphex, the victim is trailed along on foot and laid beside the nest,
with the head pointing towards the opening. The pit, prepared in advance,
is closed for the time being with a tiny flagstone and some bits of gravel,
in order to avoid either the invasion of a passer-by or obstruction by
landslips during the huntress' absence. A like precaution is taken by the
White-banded Sphex. Both observe the same diet and the same customs.

The Tachytes clears the entrance to the home and goes in alone. She
returns, puts out her head and, seizing her prey by the antennae,
warehouses it by dragging backwards. I have repeated, at her expense, the
tricks which I used to play on the Sphex. (For the author's experiments
with the Languedocian, the Yellow-winged and the White-edged Sphex, cf.
"The Hunting Wasps": chapter 11.--Translator's Note.) While the Tachytes is
underground, I move the game away. The insect comes up again and sees
nothing at its door; it comes out and goes to fetch its Locust, whom it
places in position as before. This done, it goes in again by itself. In its