CHAPTER XI 



THE LEUCOSPES^ 



LET US visit the nests of Chalicodoma mu- 

 raria in July, detaching them from their 

 pebbles with a sideward blow, as I explained 

 when telling the story of the Anthrax. The 

 Mason-bee's cocoons with two inhabitants, 

 one devouring, the other in process of being 

 devoured, are numerous enough to allow me 

 to gather some dozens in the course of a morn- 

 ing, before the sun becomes unbearably hot. 

 We will give a smart tap to the flints so as to 

 loosen the clay domes, wrap these up in news- 

 papers, fill our box and go home as fast as 

 we can, for the air will soon be as fiery as the 

 devil's kitchen. 



Inspection, which is easier in the shade In- 

 doors, soon tells us that, though the devoured 

 Is always the wretched Mason-bee, the de- 

 vourer belongs to two different species. In 



^This chapter should be read in conjunction with the 

 essays entitled The Anthrax and Larval Dimorphism, 

 forming chaps, ii. and iv. of The Life of the Fly. — Trans- 

 lator's Note, 



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