More Hunting Wasps 



and on the tips of her unfurled wings, she 

 proudly occupies an erect attitude, with the 

 Bee held facing her between her four front 

 legs. To give the poor thing a position 

 suited to receive the dagger-stroke, she turns 

 her round and back again with the rough 

 clumsiness of a child handling its doll. Her 

 pose is magnificent to look at. Solidly 

 planted on her sustaining tripod, the two 

 hinder tarsi and the tips of the wings, she 

 at last crooks her abdomen upwards and 

 again stings the Bee under the chin. The 

 originality of the Philanthus' posture at the 

 moment of the murder surpasses anything 

 that I have hitherto seen. 



The desire for knowledge in natural his- 

 tory has its cruel side. To learn precisely 

 the point attacked by the sting and to make 

 myself thoroughly acquainted with the hor- 

 rible talent of the murderess, I have investi- 

 gated more assassinations under glass than 

 I would dare to confess. Without a single 

 exception, I have always seen the Bee stung 

 in the throat. In the preparations for the 

 final blow, the tip of the abdomen may well 

 come to rest on this or that point of the 

 thorax or abdomen; but it does not stop at 

 any of these, nor is the sting unsheathed, as 

 can readily be ascertained. Indeed, once 

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