THE HUNTING-WASP The hunting-wasp is the Harley Street* specialist of the insect world, and he per- forms an operation which would give a skilled surgeon pause. There are many different species of hunting-wasp, but most of them have similar habits. For the reception of her young the female has to build a nursery out of clay. This is neatly divided into long cells about the cir- cumference of a cigarette and about half its length. In these the wasp intends to lay her eggs. However, she has another duty to perform before she can seal them up, for her eggs will hatch into grubs, and they will then require food until such time as they are ready to undergo the last stage of their metamorphosis into the perfect wasp. The hunting-wasp could stock her nursery with dead food, but by the time the eggs had hatched this food would have gone bad, so she is forced to evolve another method. Her favourite prey is the spider. Flying like some fierce hawk, she descends upon her unsuspecting victim and pro- ceeds to sting it deeply and skilfully. The *A London street renowned for its medical specialists effect of this sting is extraordinary, for the spider is completely paralysed. The hunt- ing-wasp then seizes it and carries it off to her nursery where it is carefully tucked away in one of the cells and an egg laid on it If the spiders are small, there may be anything up to seven or eight in a cell. Having satisfied herself that the food- supply is adequate for her youngsters, the wasp then seals up the cells and flies off. Inside this grisly nursery the spiders lie in an unmoving row, in some cases for as much as seven weeks. To all intents and purposes the spiders are dead, even when you handle them, and not even under a magnifying glass can you detect the faint- est sign of life. Thus they wait, so to speak, in cold storage until the eggs hatch out and the tiny grubs of the hunting-wasp start browsing on their paralyzed bodies. from Encounters with Animals by GERALD DURRELL How does the hunting wasp attack the unsuspecting Spider?
