Cerceris arenaria

In Montmartre cemetery, a splendid Russian Vine stand hides
many mysteries under its leaves and flowers.
Walking by, I heard some noise and discovered those two Cerceris which seemed
to quarrel. What was precisely happening?

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The form of the antennas gave me rapidly a clue. The male (with curved antennas) was much smaller and the female didn't seem to accept the rather harsh courtship.		Then I discovered that the female was carrying a weevil and, having captured a prey, it was not at all in the same courtship mood as the male.
	The female could get rid of the too insistent gallant and could keep its efforts to carry its heavy prey, wich was identified as Otiorynchus (Dorymerus) sulcatus.
At some time, the prey slipped and the female catched it rapidly again. In a reflex move typical for the genus Cerceris, the female bent over the prey and stung it again in the neck...		... then continued on its way with its heavy prey.
	Even if the weevil was paralyzed, it was not dead and the Cerceris had a hard job because the legs hooked in the vegetation.
The little male had not given up its projects and it decided to come back to try one again to reach its ends.
	The last picture shows clearly the huge size difference between male and female, once again typical for the genus Cerceris.

Finally, the female could free itself and I lost her in the vegetation, after two or three pictures...
Thanks to the precious help of the excellent French forum Monde des Insectes, without which I could not have identifed whether Cerceris arenaria, nor Otiorynchus (Dorymerus) sulcatus, I came to the idea of searching in the neighbourhood to find some nests... A few feet away, I could find the evidence I was looking for, a weevil left at the entrance of a nest...
	Then, two steps farther, the lady was very busy on the ground and under leaves. With some patience, I could take a picture when it was bringing a new weevil to feed its future offspring.