FABRE'S BOOK OF INSECTS 



when the latter is in her cell or near it, in order to make 

 a rush for the honey; for this honey would inevitably 

 cause its death, if it so much as touched the surface. 



We must remember that the young Sitaris which is 

 found in a closed cell is always placed on the egg of the 

 Bee. This egg not only serves as a raft for the tiny 

 creature floating on a very treacherous lake, but also 

 provides it with its first meal. To get at this egg, in 

 the centre of the lake of honey, to reach this raft which 

 is also its first food, the young grub must somehow con- 

 trive to avoid the fatal touch of the honey. 



There is only one way in which this can be done. The 

 clever grub, at the very moment when the Bee is laying 

 her egg, slips off the Bee and on to the egg, and with 

 it reaches the surface of the honey. The egg is too 

 small to hold more than one grub, and that is why we 

 never find more than one Sitaris in a cell. Such a per- 

 formance on the part of a grub seems extraordinarily 

 inspired — but then the study of insects constantly gives 

 us examples of such inspiration. 



When dropping her egg upon the honey, then, the 

 Anthophora at the same time drops into her cell the 

 mortal enemy of her race. She carefully plasters the 

 lid which closes the entrance to the cell, and all is done. 

 A second cell is built beside it, probably to suffer the 

 same fate; and so on until all the parasites sheltered by 



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