CHAPTER XVI 

 THE ANTHRAX FLY 



I 

 A STRANGE MEAL 



I MADE the acquaintance of the Anthrax in 1855 at 

 Carpentras, when I was searching the slopes of which 

 I have already told you, the slopes beloved of the 

 Anthophora-bees. Her curious pupa, so powerfully 

 equipped to force an outlet for the perfect insect, which is 

 incapable of the least effort, seemed worthy of investigation. 

 For that pupa is armed with a ploughshare in front, a trident 

 at its tail, and rows of harpoons on its back, with which to 

 rip open the Osmia-bee's cocoon and break through the hard 

 crust of the hill-side. 



Let us, some day in July, knock away the pebbles that 

 fasten the nests of the Mason-bees to the sloping ground on 

 which they are built. Loosened by the shock, the dome comes 

 off cleanly, all in one piece. Moreover and this is a great 

 advantage the cells are all exposed at the base of the nest, 

 for at this point they have no other wall than the surface of 

 the pebble. Without any scraping, which would be wearisome 

 work for us and dangerous to the Bees, we have all the cells 

 before our eyes, together with their contents a silky, amber- 

 yellow cocoon, as delicate and transparent as the skin of an 

 onion. Let us split the dainty wrappers with the scissors, cell 

 by cell, one after another. If fortune be at all kind, as it 

 always is to the persevering, we shall end by finding cocoons 

 harbouring two larvae together, one more or less faded in 

 appearance, the other fresh and plump. We shall also find 



