The Bee-eating Philanthus 



This is one step gained. The murderess 

 chooses the under part of the chin as the 

 point attacked in order to strike the princi- 

 pal nerve-centres, the cephalic ganglia, and 

 thus to da away with life at one blow. When 

 this vital seat is poisoned by the toxin, death 

 is instantaneous. Had the Philanthus' ob- 

 ject been simply to effect paralysis, the sup- 

 pression of locomotor movements, she would 

 have driven her weapon into the flaw in the 

 corselet, as the Cerceres do with the Wee- 

 vils, who are much more powerfully arm- 

 oured than the Bee. But her intention is to 

 kill outright, as we shall see presently; she 

 wants a corpse, not a paralytic patient. 

 This being so, we must agree that her op- 

 erating-method is supremely well-inspired: 

 our human murderers could achieve nothing 

 more thorough or immediate. 



We must also agree that her attitude when 

 attacking, an attitude very different from 

 that of the paralysers, is infallible in its 

 death-dealing efficacy. Whether she deliver 

 her thrust lying on the ground or standing 

 erect, she holds the Bee in front of her, 

 breast to breast, head to head. In this pos- 

 ture all that she need do is to curve her 

 abdomen in order to reach the gap in the 

 neck and plunge the sting with an upward 

 251 



