The Halicti : a Parasite 



Let us dig up the pollen-loaves. We shall 

 find them most often crumbled with no re- 

 gard to economy, simply frittered away. We 

 shall see two or three maggots, with pointed 

 mouths, moving in the yellow flour scattered 

 over the floor of the cell. These are the 

 Gnat's progeny. With them we sometimes 

 find the lawful owner, the grub-worm of the 

 Halictus, but stunted and emaciated with fast- 

 ing. His gluttonous companions, without 

 otherwise molesting him, deprive him of the 

 best of everything. The wretched starveling 

 dwindles, shrivels up and soon disappears 

 from view. His corpse, a mere atom, 

 blended with the remaining provisions, sup- 

 plies the maggots with one mouthful the 

 more. 



And what does the Halictus mother do in 

 this disaster? She is free to visit her grubs at 

 any moment; she has but to put her head into 

 the passage of the house: she cannot fail to 

 be apprised of their distress. The squandered 

 loaf, the swarming mass of vermin tell their 

 own tale. Why docs she not take the intru- 

 ders by the skin of the abdomen? To grind 

 them to powder with her mandibles, to fling 

 them out of doors were the business of a sec- 



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