More Hunting Wasps 



grope; it would obtain admission into the 

 tissues off-hand. No, the stroke of the lan- 

 cet is not forced upon it mechanically: the 

 assassin scorns the large defect in the corse- 

 let and prefers the place under the chin, for 

 eminently logical reasons which we will now 

 attempt to unravel. 



Immediately after the operation I take the 

 Bee from the Philanthus. What strikes me 

 is the sudden inertia of the antennae and the 

 mouth-parts, organs which in the victims of 

 most of the Hunting Wasps continue to 

 move for so long a time. There are here 

 not any of the signs of Hfe to which I have 

 been accustomed in my old studies of insect 

 paralysis: the antennary threads waving 

 slowly to and fro, the palpi quivering, the 

 mandibles opening and closing for days, 

 weeks and months on end. At most, the 

 tarsi tremble for a minute or two; that con- 

 stitutes the whole death-struggle. Com- 

 plete immobility ensues. The inference 

 drawn from this sudden inertia is inevitable : 

 the Wasp has stabbed the cervical ganglia. 

 Hence the immediate cessation of movement 

 in all the organs of the head; hence the real 

 instead of the apparent death of the Bee. 

 The Philanthus is a butcher and not a para- 

 lyser. 



250 



