174 FABRE'S BOOK OF INSECTS 



system, and the bruised part spreads a taint all over the 

 body. 



Liberty is a noble possession, even in an insignificant grub ; 

 but it has its dangers everywhere. The Anthrax escapes these 

 dangers only on the condition of being, so to speak, muzzled. 

 It finds its own way into the Bee's dwelling, quite independ- 

 ently of its mother. Unlike most of the other flesh-eating 

 larvae it is not fixed by its mother's care at the most suitable 

 spot for its meal. It is perfectly free to attack its prey 

 where it chooses. If it had a set of carving-tools, of jaws 

 and mandibles, it would meet with a speedy death. It would 

 split open its victim and bite it at random, and its food would 

 rot. Its freedom of action would kill it. 



II 

 THE WAY OUT 



There are other grub-eaters which drain their victims 

 without wounding them, but not one, among those I know, 

 reaches such perfection in this art as the Anthrax-grub. Nor 

 can any be compared with the Anthrax as regards the means 

 brought into play in order to leave the cell. The others, when 

 they become perfect insects, have implements for mining and 

 demolishing. They have stout mandibles, capable of digging 

 the ground, of pulling down clay partition- walls, and even of 

 grinding the Mason-bee's tough cement to powder. The 

 Anthrax, in her final form, has nothing like this. Her mouth 

 is a short, soft proboscis, good at most for soberly licking the 

 sugary fluid from the flowers. Her slim legs are so feeble 

 that to move a grain of sand would be too heavy a task for 

 them, enough to strain every joint. Her great stiff wings, 

 which must remain full-spread, do not allow her to slip through 

 a narrow passage. Her delicate suit of downy velvet, from 

 which you take the bloom by merely breathing on it, could 

 not withstand the contact of rough tunnels. She is unable 

 to enter the Mason-bee's cell to lay her egg, and equally 



