Parasites 



flies, collected solely for the children of the 

 house, new guests force their way, numerous 

 and hungry, and without the least ceremony 

 plunge into the thick of it. They sit down to 

 a table that was not laid for them; they eat 

 side by side with the lawful owner; and this in 

 such haste that he dies of starvation, though 

 he is respected by the teeth of the interlopers 

 who have gorged themselves on his portion. 



When the Melecta has substituted her egg 

 for the Anthophora's, here again we see a 

 real parasite settling in the usurped cell. The 

 pile of honey laboriously gathered by the 

 mother will not even be broken in upon by the 

 nurseling for which it was intended. Another 

 will profit by it, with none to say him nay. 

 Tachinas and Melectse: those are the true 

 parasites, consumers of others' goods. 



Can we say as much of the Chrysis or the 

 Mutllla? In no wise. The Scoliae, whose 

 habits are now known to us,^ are certainly not 

 parasites. No one will accuse them of steal- 

 ing the food of others. Zealous workers, they 

 seek and find under ground the fat grubs on 



*The habits of the Scolia-wasp have been described 

 in different essays not yet translated into English.— 

 Translator's Note. 



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