The Hunting Wasps 



is flung aside, but emptied of the entrails, 

 which the Wasp appears to add to the one 

 favoured portion. This choice morsel is 

 solely the thorax, which is richer in lean meat 

 than the rest of the Eristalis' body. Without 

 further delay, the Wasp flies off with it, carry- 

 ing it in her legs. On reaching the nest, she 

 will make it into potted Fly and serve it in 

 mouthfuls to the larvae. 



The Hornet who has caught a Bee acts in 

 much the same manner; but, in the case of an 

 assailant of her dimensions, the struggle can- 

 not last long, notwithstanding the victim's 

 sting. The Hornet may prepare her dish on 

 the very flower where the capture was ef- 

 fected, or more often on some twig of an 

 adjacent shrub. The Bee's crop is first 

 ripped open and the honey that runs out of it 

 lapped up. The prize is thus a twofold one : 

 a drop of honey for the huntress to feast upon 

 and the Bee herself for the larvae. Some- 

 times the wings are removed and also the 

 abdomen; but generally the Hornet is satisfied 

 with reducing the Bee to a shapeless mass, 

 which she carries off without disdaining any- 

 thing. Those parts which have no nutritive 

 value, especially the wings, will be rejected on 

 arriving at the nest. Lastly, she sometimes 

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