The Halicti : a Parasite 



with the long-suffering tongue, the waterproof 

 coating and the jar-like mouth, a masterpiece 

 of pottery in which the stopping-plug will be 

 fixed when the time comes for locking the door 

 of the room. And all this has to be done with 

 geometrical precision. 



No, because of this perfection, the grubs' 

 chambers could never be work done casually 

 from day to day, as the ripe eggs descend 

 from the ovaries. They are prepared long 

 beforehand, during the bad weather, at the 

 end of March and in April, when flowers are 

 scarce and the temperature is subject to sud- 

 den changes. This thankless period, often 

 cold, liable to hail-storms, is spent in making 

 ready the home. Alone at the bottom of her 

 shaft, which she rarely leaves, the mother 

 works at her children's apartments, lavishing 

 upon them those finishing touches which lei- 

 sure allows. They are completed, or very 

 nearly, when May comes with its radiant sun- 

 shine and wealth of flowers. 



We see the evidence of these long prepara- 

 tions in the burrows themselves, if we inspect 

 them before the provisions are brought. All 

 of them show us cells, about a dozen in num- 

 ber, quite finished, but still empty. To begin 



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