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Annales des Sc. Nat. 4' Ser. Tom. VI 1856 Zoolog. Etude sur l' Instinct des Sphégiens par M. Fabre

(Q) p. 147. species of Tachtyes (nigra) (a Hymenopt.) are organised to catch prey & make burrows for its larvæ, & does catch it & make burrow, yet M. F. suspect strongly gives reason for suspecting strongly that when it finds nest made & stored by a Sphex, it becomes parasitic on the occasion

(Q) p 148. A sphex when dragging its prey has habit of leaving prey at mouth & reconnoitring burrow, whilst doing this, M. F. removed a short distance the prey, the sphex dragged it to orifice & again reconnoitred & this it did 40 times — useless habit & show,

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how strikingly instinct is a habit, & further

Q (p 150) when prey entirely removed, the insect instead of searching for fresh prey, closed the burrow as if all was complete, & so threw away all its labour: & this was almost invariable practice

He says "Les actes instinctifs sont sous une telle dependence l'un a l' autre, que l' accomplisement d l'un entraîne invinciblement l' accomplisement de l' autre."

(Q) p 157. The Sphex in 1/2 killing the cricket turns it on back & holding limbs stings it in 2 or 3 places just on the nervous centre ganglions:— other species when killing Curculios, which have only 1 ganglion sting only in 1 place— How this beats ferrets— compare it with more fighting for a million years with an animal he wd find out how best to do it — meaning & reason — selected habits with Sphex.

p. 163 Anothr Hymenopt. always stings caterpillar w on 5 or 6th segment, whence immobility spreads to the 2 sets of legs.— Egg always deposited in dark on stung pl spot, so that larva most delicate not disturbed.