Bramble-bees and Others 



spring; the majority do not resort to pre- 

 ventive manipulations. Here are some that 

 first disarm the foe, who carries poisoned dag- 

 gers; yonder are others and more numerous 

 who have no precautions to take before mur- 

 dering the unarmed prey. In the prehminary 

 struggle, I know some who grab their victims 

 by the neck, by the rostrum, by the antennae, 

 by the caudal threads; I know some who 

 throw them on their backs, some who lift 

 them breast to breast, some who operate on 

 them in the vertical position, some who at- 

 tack them lengthwise and crosswise, some who 

 climb on their backs or on their abdomens, 

 some who press on their backs to force out 

 a pectoral fissure, some who open their de- 

 sperately contracted coil, using the tip of the 

 abdomen as a wedge. And so I could go on 

 indefinitely: every method of fencing is em- 

 ployed. What could I not also say about 

 the egg, slung pendulum-fashion by a thread 

 from the ceiling, when the live provisions are 

 wriggling underneath; laid on a scanty mouth- 

 ful, a solitary opening dish, when the dead 

 prey requires renewing from day to day; en- 

 trusted to the last joint stored away, when 

 the victuals are paralysed; fixed at a precise 



360 



