The Fly-hunt 



Why does the spoiler kill the captured prey 

 instead of simply paralysing it? Is it for 

 want of skill in the use of her sting? Is it 

 because of some difficulty due to the structure 

 of the Flies or to the methods employed in the 

 chase? I must begin by confessing that I 

 have failed in my attempts to place Flies, 

 without killing them, in that state of complete 

 immobility to which it is so easy to reduce a 

 Buprestis, a Weevil or a Scarab by injecting 

 a tiny drop of ammonia with a needle into 

 the thoracic ganglia. In making the experi- 

 ment, it is difficult to render the insect mo- 

 tionless ; and, by the time that it has ceased 

 to move, death has actually occurred, as is 

 proved by its speedy corruption or desiccation. 

 But I have too much confidence in the re- 

 sources of instinct and have witnessed the in- 

 genious solution of too many problems to be- 

 lieve that a difficulty which baffles the experi- 

 menter can bring the insect to a standstill. 

 Therefore, without throwing doubt upon the 

 Bembex' talents as a slaughterer, I should 

 be inclined to look for other reasons. 



Perhaps the Fly, so thinly covered, so de- 

 void of any plumpness, in a word, so lean, 

 could not, if paralysed by the sting, resist 

 evaporation long enough and would shrivel 

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