Advanced Theories 121 



science, we have a riddle to read. Let us con- 

 tinue to examine the riddle. Different species 

 of the Crabro family are so like the Social 

 Wasps in size, in shape and in their black-and- 

 yellow livery as to deceive any eye unversed 

 in the delicate distinctions of entomology. To 

 any one who has not made a special study of 

 such subjects a Crabro is a Common Wasp. 

 May it not have happened that the English 

 observer, looking at things from a height and 

 thinking unworthy of strict investigation the 

 tiny fact which nevertheless was to corroborate 

 his transcendental theories and help to bestow 

 reason upon an animal, made a mistake in his 

 turn, but one in the other direction and quite 

 pardonable, by taking a Wasp for a Crabro ? 

 I would almost dare swear so ; and here are 

 my reasons. 



Wasps, if not always, at least often bring up 

 their family on animal food ; but, instead of 

 accumulating a provision of game in each cell 

 beforehand, they distribute the food to the 

 larvae, one by one and several times a day ; 

 they feed them with their mouths, as the father 

 and mother feed young birds with their beaks. 

 And the mouthful consists of a fine mash of 

 chewed insects, ground between the mandibles 

 of the Wasp nurse. The favourite insects for 

 the preparation of this infants' food are Diptera, 



