XII 

 BURGLARS 



IT may be objected possibly that the calling of a 

 burglar scarcely entitles him to rank among arti- 

 zans, but a popular dictionary, to which we have just 

 referred to justify us if possible, defines " artizan " 

 as one skilled in any art, mystery, or trade, and 

 surely there is both art and mystery about the pro- 

 ceedings of the human burglar, and the Insect 

 Burglar does not fall short of her human prototype 

 in these respects. We have used the feminine 

 gender, because, as in so much that we have had 

 to tell, it is the female insect that does all the clever 

 work. The male insect, apart from his often 

 finer appearance, is a poor creature. 



Just as the human burglar is a product of civiliza- 

 tion, so, too, the Insect Burglar is mainly to be 

 found in what is considered the most highly evolved 

 order of the Insects the Hymenoptera, the order 

 that includes the Ants, the Wasps, and the Bees. 

 Strictly speaking, however, these dishonest insects 

 should be classed as Housebreakers rather than 

 Burglars, because they are daylight operators ; but 

 in non-legal modern parlance the term "house- 



279 



