The Bee-Eating Philanthus 



organism depends. To reach them there is 

 only one way, through the little gap in the 

 throat. It is here therefore that the sting 

 must be inserted; and it is here in fact that 

 it is inserted, in a spot hardly as large as the 

 twenty-fifth of an inch square. Suppress a 

 single hnk of this compact chain, and the 

 Bee-fed Philanthus becomes impossible. 



That honey is fatal to carnivorous larvae 

 is a fact which teems with consequences. 

 Several Hunting Wasps feed their families 

 upon Bees. These include, to my know- 

 ledge, the Crowned Philanthus (P. corona- 

 tus, FAB.), who lines her burrows with big 

 HalictI; the Robber Philanthus {P. raptor, 

 LEP.), who chases all the smaller-sized Ha- 

 licti, suited to her own dimensions, indiffer- 

 ently; the Ornate Cerceris (C ornata, 

 FAB.), another passionate lover of Halicti; 

 and the Palarus {P. flavipes, FAB.), who, 

 with a curious eclecticism, stacks in her cells 

 the greater part of the Hymenopteron clan 

 that does not exceed her powers. What do 

 these four huntresses and the others of sim- 

 ilar habits do with their victims whose crops 

 are more or less swollen with honey? They 

 must follow the example of the Bee-eating 

 Philanthus and make them disgorge, lest 

 their family perish of a honeyed diet; they 

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