The Method of the Calicurgi 



captivity. Stunned by colliding with the 

 walls of their glass or wire-gauze prison, 

 they all perish within twenty-four hours. 

 Swifter in their movements and apparently 

 satisfied with their honeyed thistle-heads, the 

 Spheges, huntresses of Crickets or Ephip- 

 pigers, die as quickly of nostalgia. All I 

 offer them leaves them Indifferent. 



Nor can I get anything out of the Eu- 

 menes, notably the biggest of them, the 

 builder of gravel cupolas, Amedeus' Eu- 

 menes. All the Pompill, except the Harle- 

 quin Calicurgus, refuse my Spiders. The 

 Palarus, who preys upon an indefinite num- 

 ber of the Hymenopteron clan, refuses to 

 tell me if she drinks the honey of the Bees, 

 as does the Philanthus, or if she lets the 

 others go without manipulating them to 

 make them disgorge. The Tachytes do not 

 vouchsafe their Locusts a glance; Stizus rufi- 

 cornis promptly gives up the ghost, disdain- 

 ing the Praying Mantis which I provide for 

 her. 



What Is the use of continuing this list of 

 checks? The rule may be gathered from 

 these few examples : occasional successes and 

 many failures. What can be the reason? 

 With the exception of the Philanthus, 

 tempted from time to time by a bumper of 



