A Parasite of the Bembex 



me a picture of brigands, clad in dark frieze, 

 with a red handkerchief round their heads, 

 waiting in ambush for the moment to strike a 

 felon blow. The Wasp arrives carrying her 

 prey. If nothing of an alarming nature 

 troubled her, she would then and there alight 

 at her door. But she hovers at a certain 

 height, comes down slowly and circum- 

 spectly, hesitates; and a plaintive whimper- 

 ing, resulting from a special vibration of her 

 wings, expresses her fears. She has seen 

 the malefactors therefore. They too have 

 seen the Bembex: they follow her with their 

 eyes, as the movement of their red heads 

 shows; every gaze is turned towards the 

 coveted booty. Now come the marches and 

 countermarches of craft striving to outwit 

 prudence. 



The Bembex comes straight down, with 

 an imperceptible flight, as though letting her- 

 self drop inertly, buoyed up by the parachute 

 of her wings. She is now hovering a hand's 

 breadth above the ground. This is the mo- 

 ment. The Midges take flight and all make 

 for the rear of the Wasp ; they hover in her 

 wake, some nearer, some farther, in a geo- 

 metrical line. If the Bembex turns to 

 thwart their designs, they also turn, with a 



