A BEE-HUNTER 171 



Philanthus grub. Other carnivorous larvae — at least in 

 the series of the Hymenoptera — must share it. Let us 

 experiment. The method need not be changed. I 

 exhume the larvae when in a state of medium growth, 

 to avoid the vicissitudes of extreme youth ; I collect 

 the bodies of the grubs and insects which form their 

 natural diet and smear each body with honey, in which 

 condition I return them to the larvae. A distinction is 

 apparent : all the larvae are not equally suited to my 

 experiment. Those larvae must be rejected which are 

 nourished upon one single corpulent insect, as is that 

 of the Scolia. The grub attacks its prey at a determined 

 point, plunges its head and neck into the body of the 

 insect, skilfully divides the entrails in order to keep the 

 remains fresh until its meal is ended, and does not 

 emerge from the opening until all is consumed but the 

 empty skin. 



To interrupt the larva with the object of smearing the 

 interior of its prey with honey is doubly objectionable ; 

 I might extinguish the lingering vitality which keeps 

 putrefaction at bay in the victim, and I might confuse 

 the delicate art of the larva, which might not be able 

 to recover the lode at which it was working or to dis- 

 tinguish between those parts which are lawfully and 

 properly eaten and those which must not be consumed 

 until a later period. As I have shown in a previous 

 volume, the grub of the Scolia has taught me much in 

 this respect. The only larvae acceptable for this experi- 

 ment are those which are fed on a number of small 

 insects, which are attacked without any special art, dis- 

 membered at random, and quickly consumed. Among 

 such larvae I have experimented with those provided by 



