More Hunting Wasps 



Philanthus' entomological knowledge in the 

 matter of the distinction of species. Recip- 

 rocal quarrels break out in the mixed co- 

 lony. Suddenly, in the midst of the fray, the 

 killer is killed. She tumbles over on her 

 back, she waves her legs; she is dead. Who 

 struck the blow? It was certainly not the 

 excitable but pacific Drone-fly; it was one of 

 the Bees, who struck home by accident du- 

 ring the thick of the fight. Where and how? 

 I cannot tell. The incident occurs only once 

 in my notes, but it throws a light upon the 

 question. The Bee is capable of withstand- 

 ing her adversary; she can then and there 

 slay her would-be slayer with a thrust of the 

 sting. That she does not defend herself to 

 better purpose, when she falls into her ene- 

 my's clutches, is due to her ignorance- of 

 fencing and not to the weakness of her 

 weapon. And here again arises, more in- 

 sistently than before, the question which I 

 asked above: how is it that the Philanthus 

 has learnt for offensive what the Bee has 

 not learnt for defensive purposes? I see 

 but one answer to the difficulty: the one 

 knows without having learnt; the other doesf 

 not know because she is incapable of learn- 

 ing. 



Let us now consider the motives that in- 

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