tulating
that the digestion of the carnivorous larva leaves a trace in the memory
of the honey-sipping insect--I see the offspring, I say, obliged to wait
at long intervals for that inspired double thrust and obliged to succeed
each time under pain of death for them and their descendants. To accept
this host of impossibilities exceeds all my faculties of belief. One
leads to two, no doubt; the Ssingle blow of the predatory Wasp will
never lead to the blow twice delivered.

In order to live, we all require the conditions that enable us to live:
this is a truth worthy of the famous axioms of La Palice. (Jacques de
Chabannes, Seigneur de La Palice [circa 1470-1525]), was a French captain
killed at the battle of Pavia. His soldiers made up in his honour a
ballad, two lines of which, translated, run:

Fifteen minutes before he died, He was still alive.

(Hence the French expression, une verite de La Palice, meaning an obvious
truth.--Translator's Note.)

The predatory insects live by their talent. If they do not possess it to
perfection, their race is lost. Hidden in the murk of the past ages, the
argument based upon the non-existence of fossil instinct is no better
able than the others to withstand the light of living realities; it
crumbles under the stroke of fate; it vanishes before a La Palice
platitude.

CHAPTER 12. THE HALICTI: A PARASITE.

Do you know the Halicti? Perhaps not. There is no great harm done: it is
quite possible to enjoy the few sweets of existence without knowing
the Halicti. Nevertheless, when questioned persistently, these humble
creatures with no history can tell us some very singular things; and
their acquaintance is not to be disdained if we would enlarge our ideas
upon the bewildering swarm of this world. Since we have nothing better
to do, let us look into the Halicti. They are worth the trouble.

How shall we recognize them? They are manufacturers of honey, generally
longer and slighter than the Bee of our hives. They constitute a
numerous group that varies greatly in size and colouring. Some there are
that exceed the dimensions of the Common Wasp; others might be compared
with the House-fly, or are even smaller. In the midst of this variety,
which is the despair of the novice, one characteristic remains
invariable. Every Halictus carries the clearly-written certificate of
her guild.

Examine the last ring, at the tip of the abdomen, on the dorsal surface.
If your capture be an H