THE HALICTI 201 



are preferable to the dry minutiae of nomenclature. Let 

 me content myself with giving a brief description of the 

 culprit. She is a Dipteron five millimetres long.^ Eyes, 

 dark red ; face, white. Corselet, ashy grey, with five 

 rows of fine black dots, which are the roots of stiff bristles 

 pointing backwards. Greyish belly, pale below. Black 

 legs. 



She abounds in the colony under observation. Crouch- 

 ing in the sun, near a burrow, she waits. As soon as the 

 Halictus arrives from the harvest, her legs yellow with 

 pollen, she darts forth and pursues her, keeping behind 

 her in all the turns of her wavering flight. At last, the 

 Hymenopteron suddenly dives indoors. No less sud- 

 denly, the other settles on the mole-hill, quite close to the 

 entrance. Motionless, with her head turned towards the 

 front-door, she waits for the Bee to finish her business. 

 The latter reappears at last and, for a few seconds, stands 

 on the threshold of her dwelling, with her head and thorax 

 outside the hole. The Gnat, on her side, does not stir. 



Often, they are face to face, separated by a space no 

 wider than a finger's breadth. Neither of them shows 

 the least excitement. The Halictus — judging, at least, 

 by her tranquillity — takes no notice of the parasite 

 lying in wait for her ; the parasite, on the other hand, 

 displays no fear of being punished for her audacity. 

 She remains imperturbable, she, the dwarf, in the presence 

 of the colossus who could crush her with a blow of one 

 of her legs. 



In vain I peer to discover some sign of apprehension on 

 either side : nothing in the Halictus points to a knowledge 

 of the danger run by her family ; nor does anything in 

 the Dipteron betray the dread of a severe correction. 



^ 2 inch. — Translator's Note. 



26 



