The Theory of Parasitism 



varying from time to time. The victuals 

 will be the common property of all the new 

 arrivals, whether the sons of the house or 

 strangers. 



The violated dwelling cannot remain as It 

 is, exposed to marauders from without; the 

 parasite must herself wall up the breach 

 which she has contrived. The quondam house- 

 breaker becomes a builder. At the foot of 

 the pebble, the Stelis collects a little of that 

 red earth which characterizes our stony pla- 

 teaus grown with lavender and thyme; she 

 makes it into mortar by wetting it with sa- 

 liva; and with the pellets thus prepared she 

 fills up the entrance-shaft, displaying all the 

 care and art of a regular master-mason. 

 Only, the work clashes in colour with the 

 Chalicodoma's. The Bee goes and gathers 

 her cementing-powder on the adjoining high- 

 road, the metal of which consists of broken 

 flint-stones, and very seldom uses the red 

 earth under the boulder supporting the nest. 

 This choice is apparently dictated by the fact 

 that the chemical properties of the former 

 are more likely to produce a solid structure. 

 The lime of the road, mixed with saliva, 

 yields a harder cement than red clay would 

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