the anal pouch is so far
removed from the usual that we should not anticipate many imitators; it
is a secondary detail, and impracticable with game of a different kind.
But there may well be a certain amount of variety in the means of direct
utilisation. Why, for example, when the victim which has just been
paralysed or rendered insensible by stinging contains in the stomach a
delicious meal, semi-liquid or liquid in consistency, should the hunter
scruple to rob the half-living body and force it to disgorge without
injuring the quality of its flesh? There may well be robbers of the
moribund, attracted not by their flesh but by the appetising contents of
their stomachs.

As a matter of fact there are such, and they are numerous. In the first
rank we may cite that hunter of the domestic bee, _Philanthus aviporus_
(Latreille). For a long time I suspected Philanthus of committing such
acts of brigandage for her own benefit, having many times surprised her
gluttonously licking the honey-smeared mouth of the bee; I suspected
that her hunting of the bee was not undertaken entirely for the benefit
of her larvae. The suspicion was worth experimental confirmation. At the
time I was interested in another question also: I wanted to study,
absolutely at leisure, the methods by which the various predatory
species dealt with their victims. In the case of Philanthus I made use
of the improvised cage already described; and Philanthus it was who
furnished me with my first data on the subject. She responded to my
hopes with such energy that I thought myself in possession of an
unequalled method of observation, by means of which I could witness
again and again, to satiety even, incidents of a kind so difficult to
surprise in a state of nature. Alas! the early days of my acquaintance
with Philanthus promised me more than the future had in store for me!
Not to anticipate, however, let us place under the bell-glass the hunter
and the game. I recommend the experiment to whomsoever would witness the
perfection with which the predatory Hymenoptera use their stings. The
result is not in doubt and the waiting is short; the moment the prey is
perceived in an attitude favourable to her designs, the bandit rushes at
it, and all is over. In detail, the tragedy develops as follows:

I place under a bell-glass a Philanthus and two or three domestic bees.
The prisoners climb the glass walls, on the more strongly lighted side;
they ascend, descend, and