204 THE LIFE AND LOVE OF THE INSECT 



When the house-owner ascends, the other draws back 

 a little, just enough to leave a free passage and no more. 

 Whj^ should she put herself out ? The meeting is so peaceful 

 that, short of further information, one would not suspect 

 the presence face to face of a destroyer and destroyed. 

 Far from being intimidated by the sudden arrival of the 

 Halictus, the Gnat pays hardly any attention ; and, in 

 the same way, the Halictus takes no notice of her per- 

 secutress, unless the bandit pursue her and worry her 

 on the wing. Then, with a sudden bend, the Hymenop- 

 teron makes off. 



The parasite of the Halictus is in a difficult position. 

 The homing Bee has her booty of honey in her crop and her 

 harvest of flour on the brushes of her legs : the first is 

 inaccessible to the thief ; the second is in the form of 

 powder and devoid of stable support. And even then 

 it is quite insufficient. To collect the wherewithal to 

 knead the round loaf, the journeys have to be repeated. 

 When the necessary amount is obtained, the Halictus will 

 pound it with the tip of her mandibles and shape it with 

 her feet into a globule. The Dipteron's egg, were it 

 present among the materials, would certainly be in danger 

 during this manipulation. 



The alien egg, therefore, must be laid on the made 

 bread ; and, as the preparation takes place underground, 

 the parasite is under the forced necessity of going down 

 to the Halictus. With inconceivable daring, she does 

 go down, even when the Bee is there. Whether through 

 cowardice or foolish indulgence, the dispossessed insect 

 lets the other have its way. 



The object of the Gnat, with her tenacious lying-in-wait 

 and her reckless burglaries, is not to feed herself at the 

 harvester's expense : she could find the wherewithal to live 



