The Bee-eating Philanthus 



Bembex, whose larva receives the necessary 

 nourishment at intervals, as it grows larger. 

 The facts confirm this deduction. Just now 

 I described as tedious my watches near the 

 colonies of the Phllanthi. They were te- 

 dious in fact, even more so perhaps than 

 those which the Bembeces used to inflict upon 

 me in the old days. Outside the burrows 

 of the Great Cerceris and other Weevil- 

 lovers, outside those of the Yellow-winged 

 Sphex, the Cricket-slayer, there is plenty of 

 distraction, thanks to the bustling movement 

 of the hamlet. The mother has hardly come 

 back home before she goes out again, soon 

 returning laden with a new prey and once 

 more setting out upon the chase. The go- 

 ing and coming is repeated at close intervals 

 until the warehouse is full. 



The burrow of the Philanthus is far from 

 showing any such animation, even in a popu- 

 lous colony. In vain were my watches pro- 

 longed for whole mornings or afternoons; it 

 was but very rarely that the mother whom 

 I had seen go in with a Bee came out again 

 for a second expedition. Two captures at 

 most by the same huntress was all that I 

 was able to see during my long vigils. Feed- 

 ing from day to day involves this delibera- 

 tion. Once the family is supplied with a 

 267 



