Change of Diet 



lated one from another. These Fly-eaters 

 I propose to turn into Grasshopper-eaters; 

 for their Bembex-diet I intend to substitute 

 the diet of a Sphex or a Tachytes. To save 

 myself tedious errands devoted to provision- 

 ing the refectory, I accept what good for- 

 tune offers me at the very threshold of my 

 door. A green Locustid, with a short sabre 

 bent into a reaping-hook, Phaneroptera fal- 

 cata, is ravaging the corollae of my petunias. 

 Now is the time to indemnify myself for the 

 damage which she has caused me. I pick 

 her young, half to three-quarters of an inch 

 in length; and I deprive her of movement, 

 without more ado, by crushing her head. 

 In this condition she Is served up to the Bem- 

 bex-larvae in place of their Flies. 



If the reader has shared my convictions 

 of failure, convictions based on very logical 

 motives, he will now share my profound 

 surprise. The impossible becomes possible, 

 the senseless becomes reasonable and the 

 expected becomes the opposite of the real. 

 The dish served on the Bembeces' table for 

 the first time since Bembeces came into the 

 world Is accepted without any repugnance 

 and consumed with every mark of satisfac- 

 tion. I will here set down the detailed 

 diary of one of my guests; that of the others 

 191 



