206 THE SOLITARY WASPS. 



Out of eight bees that were subjected to stinging without 

 malaxation : 



1 ceased to move the first day. 



2 ceased to move the second day. 



3 ceased to move the third day. 

 1 ceased to move the sixth day. 



1 ceased to move the twelfth day. 



In one case in which there was no malaxation the state of 

 paralysis was truly remarkable, quite comparable to that which 

 M. Fabre has described with the Curculianidae of another 

 Cerceris. The details are as follows: 



The third day after the sting the oscillations of the tarsi per- 

 sisted in a constant manner; the posterior legs reacted strongly 

 whenever one excited the abdomen ; the antennas were easily ex- 

 cited. The fourth and fifth days gave the same symptoms. 



On the sixth day faeces were passed. 



On the seventh the oscillations persisted, the antennae being 

 always half raised when the abdomen was excited; the posterior 

 legs did not react, but the abdominal extremity was recurved. 

 Faeces were passed. 



On the eighth, ninth, tenth, and eleventh days the oscillations 

 of the tarsi persisted, rhythmically, with strong accentuation. 



On the twelfth day in the morning, the oscillations of the in- 

 termediate tarsi were plainly much weaker than in the anterior 

 tarsi, while those of the posterior tarsi persisted with a good deal 

 * of vigor. By evening the oscillations of the tarsi had ceased. 



On the eighteenth day the tarsi broke off showing that desic- 

 cation had begun. Cerceris, then, can paralyze its prey and 

 can plunge it into a state of torpor which lasts fifteen days, 

 giving the larva fresh and living food. 



An effort was made to get malaxation without stinging, but 

 Cerceris would not go on to this part of the treatment until 

 the bee had been rendered motionless by the sting. When the 

 sting was cut off, she used the abdomen as if stinging, trying 

 again and again as this failed to produce the desired result, and 

 finally letting the bee escape. The real object of the sting, 



