Thus
the worker gradually became transformed into a parasite.

Capital! The thing goes like clockwork, as long as we have only to put
our ideas on paper. But let us just consult the facts, if you don't
mind; before arguing about probabilities, let us look into things as
they are. Here is the Mason-bee of the Sheds teaching us something very
curious. To smash the lid of a cell that does not belong to her, to
throw the egg out of doors and put her own in its place is a practice
which she has followed since time began. There is no need of my
interference to make her commit burglary: she commits it of her own
accord, when her rights are prejudiced as the result of a too-long
absence. Ever since her race has been kneading cement, she has known the
law of retaliation. Countless ages, such as the evolutionists require,
have made her adopt forcible usurpation as an inveterate habit.
Moreover, robbery is so incomparably easy for the mother. No more cement
to scratch up with her mandibles on the hard ground, no more mortar to
knead, no more clay walls to build, no more pollen to gather on hundreds
and hundreds of journeys. All is ready, board and lodging. Never was a
better opportunity for allowing one's self a good time. There is
nothing against it. The others, the workers, are imperturbable in their
good-humour. Their outraged cells leave them profoundly indifferent.
There are no brawls to fear, no protests. Now or never is the moment to
tread the primrose path.

Besides, your progeny will be all the better for it. You can choose the
warmest and wholesomest spots; you can multiply your laying-operations
by devoting to them all the time that you would have to spend on irksome
occupations. If the impression produced by the violent seizure of
another's property is strong enough to be handed down by heredity, how
deep should be the impression of the actual moment when the Mason-bee
is in the first flush of success! The precious advantage is fresh in the
memory, dating from that very instant; the mother has but to continue
in order to create a method of installation favourable in the highest
degree to her and hers. Come, poor Bee! Throw aside your exhausting
labours, follow the evolutionists' advice and, as you have the means at
your disposal, become a parasite!

But no, having effected her little revenge, the builder returns to
her masonry, the gleaner to her gleaning, with unquenchable zeal. She
forgets the crime committed in