The Bee-eating Philanthus 



larva's excrement; it has no other support. 

 It looks like a short club fixed by the end 

 of the handle along the horizontal axis of 

 the nest. Other cells contain the larva in a 

 more or less advanced stage. The grub is 

 munching the last morsel served to it, with 

 the scraps of the victuals already consumed 

 lying around it. Others lastly show me a 

 Bee, one only, still untouched and bearing an 

 egg laid on her breast. This is the first par- 

 tial ration; the others will come as and when 

 the grub grows larger. My anticipations 

 are thus confirmed: following the example 

 of the Bembeces, the Fly-killers, the Phi- 

 lanthus, the Bee-killer, lays her egg on the 

 first piece warehoused and at intervals adds 

 to her nurselings' repast. 



The problem of the dead game is solved. 

 There remains this other problem, one of in- 

 comparable interest: why are the Bees robbed 

 of their honey before being served to the 

 larvsE? I have said and I say again that the 

 killing and squeezing cannot be explained 

 and excused simply by reference to the Phi- 

 lanthus' love of gormandizing. Robbing 

 the worker of her booty is nothing out of 

 the way: we see it daily; but cutting her 

 throat in order to empty her stomach is 

 going beyond a joke. And, as the Bees 

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