I'M GENEKAL NOTES 



FaBRE ox J^AHrriEXOGEXESIS. 



ICxtiact fi'oin Anien'caii Ik^e Joiiiiial. Mav, llil > 



Tlio><e of oiiv reaaers wlio have beeu with us for 

 several years will reiueinber, perhaps, the w^ritings of the 

 celebrated iiaiuralist, Fabre, and his great observations 

 upon the iK'e-eatiii*;- was]»s. tlie PJiiUinthus ap'ivorus, and 

 liis descri]>tioii of the digiicr wasps, such as the sphex. the 

 soolia, the poinpilus; the scientific way in which these 

 insects stinu tlieir i)rey sulticiently to render it r.nable 

 1() defend itself and yet live until it is eaten by the vonng 

 larva of the digger \\asp. {Ainrrican Bee Jomnal, 

 September and Novenibei-, 11112. i 



Fabre's writings are exceedingly interesting, for al 

 lliongh, he was a botanist and an entomologist, his 

 descrijdioiis ai-e as devoid oi' scientific words as he could 

 n'lake them, besides, he spent bnt little time describing 

 llie anatomy <d' the insects. Of this he gives just encmgh 

 To ex))laiii iheii- actions. He was really a naturalist, 

 studying the habits and ways of all these insect^ and 

 desci'ibing what he saw in a delightful manner. The 

 I'cader of his books accompanies him in his researches, so 

 vivid are his descrii<lions. Mis entire life was spent 

 Avaiching th(^ small but innumerable world of insects. 



I bought his " Souve!iirs JMitomologiqnes " in his native 

 language, the French, and am sjK^nding really delightful 

 liours with him among the hyineno]>ters. But although 

 lie sj)ent years among the dillerent varieties of bee-;, the 

 honeybee seems to have been neglected by him, fcu' he 

 mentioned only its enemies, the digger wasps. It was, 

 lhei'efoi'(\ with great astonishment, that I found, "':i tlie 

 hist chapler of the '.\vi] vnlunie, a reference to Dzierzon 

 and i.arth(Miog(Misis. 1 1 c-anie in the following way 



In describing the " osmia *'. a family of mason bees, 

 he explains the re|)artiiion (d' the sexes in the different 

 cells. In this bee, the male is smaller than the female, 

 just the opposite of our honeybee, if we consider the 



