DEATH'S HEAD SPHINX. 41 



colony of small brown humble bees (Muscoruni) had 

 been established. The first carried thither did not 

 appear to be affected by the smell of the honey ; it 

 remained quiet in a corner. Beginning to approach 

 the nest and its inhabitants, it soon became the object, 

 not of the dread, but of the wrath of the workers. 

 Repeatedly assailing it with fury, they gave it frequent 

 stings ; it sought to escape ; it ran quickly ; and, at 

 last, raising the glass cover of the apparatus by a 

 violent exertion, succeeded. It seemed to suffer very 

 little from its wounds ; remained tranquil all the 

 night ; and several days after was wonderfully well. 



" Another Sphinx, very vigorous and lively, which 

 often emitted the sound peculiar to its species, was 

 confined along with the same colony. Its activity 

 only served to render it sooner the victim of their 

 rage. Immediately on approaching the nest, which, 

 nevertheless, it seemed to have no desire to enter, 

 all the workers darted on it at once with their stings, 

 and harassed the creature so incessantly as to compel 

 it to retreat. The moth defended itself only by the 

 violent agitation of its wings, but it could not evade 

 the attacks of the humble bees under the belly, 

 where it seemed most sensible of their weapons. 

 At length, after an hour of suffering, it perished 

 under many wounds. 



" I was unwilling to carry this cruel experiment 

 farther. Captivity, or some other circumstance, 

 evidently reduced the insect to too great an infe- 

 riority to the humble bees. Yet, after the experiment, 

 it became still more difficult for me to understand 

 how it could introduce itself into the hives of common 



VOL. II. D 



