Note 1 — Chapter ii · THE GREAT CERCERIS

The victim which the Cerceris chooses whereon to feed her grubs is a large-sized Weevil, Cleonus ophthalmicus. We see the kidnapper arrive heavily laden, carrying her victim between her legs, body to body, head to head, and plump down at some distance from her hole, to complete the rest of the journey without the aid of her wings. The Wasp is now dragging her prey in her mandibles up a vertical, or at least a very steep surface, productive of frequent tumbles which send kidnapper and kidnapped rolling helter-skelter to the bottom, but incapable of discouraging the indefatigable mother, who, covered with dirt and dust, ends by diving into the burrow with her booty, which she has not let go for a single moment. Whereas the Cerceris finds it far from easy to walk with such a burden, especially on ground of this character, it is a different matter when she is flying, which she does with a vigour that astonishes us when we consider that the sturdy little creature is carrying a prize almost as large as herself and heavier. I had the curiosity to compare the weight of the Cerceris and her victim: the first turned the scale at 150 milligrammes;1 the second averaged 250 milligrammes,2 or nearly double.