Bramble-bees and Others 



hind-legs, especially the third pair, those with 

 the big thighs, which kick vigorously. The 

 next day, the condition is much the same, with 

 an aggravation of the paralysis, which has 

 now attacked the middle-legs. On the day 

 after that, the legs do not move, but the 

 antennse, the palpi and the ovipositor con- 

 tinue to flutter actively. This is the condition 

 of the Ephippiger stabbed three times in the 

 thorax by the Languedocian Sphex. One 

 point alone is missing, a most important point: 

 the long persistence of a remnant of life. In 

 fact, on the fourth day, the D:ecticus Is dead; 

 her dark colour tells me so. 



There are two conclusions to be drawn 

 from this experiment and It Is well to em- 

 phasize them. First, the Bee's poison Is so 

 active that a single dagger-thrust aimed at 

 a nervous centre kills in four days one of the 

 largest of the Orthoptera,^ though an insect 

 of powerful constitution. Secondly, the 

 paralysis at first affects only the legs whose 

 ganglion is attacked; next, it spreads slowly 

 to the second pair; lastly, it reaches the third. 



^An order of insects including the Grasshoppers, Lo- 

 custs, Cockroaches, Mantes and Earwigs, in addition to 

 the Stick- and Leaf-insects, Termites, Dragon-flies, May- 

 flies, Book-lice and others. — Translator's Note. 



346 



