Bramble-bees and Others 



closed as long as the victuals are unfinished. 

 This is a radical scheme, but not in every one's 

 power, it appears. It is the course adopted, 

 for instance, by the Sphex-wasps and the 

 Anthophora-bees, who, when the whole of the 

 food is consumed, expel at one shot the resi- 

 dues amassed in the intestines since the com- 

 mencement of the repast. 



Others, the Osraije in particular, accept a 

 compromise and begin to relieve the digestive 

 channel when a suitable space has been made 

 in the cell through the gradual disappearance 

 of the victuals. Others again — more hur- 

 ried these — find means of obeying the com- 

 mon law pretty early by engaging in stercoral 

 manufactures. By a stroke of genius, they 

 turn the unpleasant obstruction into building- 

 bricks. We have already seen the art of the 

 Lily Beetle,^ who, with her soft excrement, 

 makes herself a coat wherein to keep cool in 

 spite of the sun. It is a very crude and re- 

 volting art, disgusting to the eye. The Dia- 



^Crioceris merdigera. Fabre's essay on this insect has 

 not yet been translated into English; but readers inter- 

 ested in the matter will find a full description in An 

 Introduction to Entomology, by William Kirby, Rector 

 of Barham, and William Spence: letter xxi. — Transla- 

 tor's Note. 



288 



