insect's aptitudes, its diet, its industry and its habits shall take
precedence of the shape of a joint in its antennae. It will come; but
when?

If from generalities we descend to details, we shall see that the very
species may, in many instances, be determined from the nature of its
victuals. The number of burrows of Philanthus apivorus which I have
inspected since I have been rummaging the hot roadside embankments, to
enquire into their population, would seem hyperbolical were I able to
state the figures. (For the Bee-eating Philanthus cf. Chapter 10 of the
present volume.--Translator's Note.) They must amount, it seems to me,
to thousands. Well, in this multitude of food-stores, whether recent or
ancient, uncovered for a purpose or encountered by chance, I have not
once, not as often as once, discovered other remains than those of the
Hive-bee: the imperishable wings, still connected in pairs, the cranium
and thorax enveloped in a violet shroud, the winding-sheet which time
throws over these relics. To-day as when I was a beginner, ever so long
ago; in the north as in the south of the country which I explored;
in mountainous regions as on the plains, the Philanthus follows an
unvarying diet: she must have the Hive-bee, always the Bee and never any
other, however closely various other kinds of game resemble the Bee in
quality. If, therefore, when exploring sunny banks, you find beneath the
soil a small parcel of mutilated Bees, that will be enough to point to
the existence of a local colony of Philanthus apivorus. She alone
knows the recipe for making potted Bee-meat. The Crioceris was but now
teaching us all about the lily family; and here the mildewed body of the
Bee tells us of the Philanthus and her lair.

Similarly the female Ephippiger helps us to identify the Languedocian
Sphex: her relics, the cymbals and the long sabre, are the unmistakable
sign of the cocoon to which they adhere. The black Cricket, with his
red-braided thighs, is the infallible label of the Yellow-winged
Sphex; the larva of Oryctes nasicornis tells us of the Garden Scolia
as certainly as the best description; the Cetonia-grub proclaims the
Two-banded Scolia and the larva of the Anoxia announces the Interrupted
Scolia.

After these exclusive ones, who disdain to vary their meals, let us
mention the eclectics, who, in a group which is generally well-defined,
are able to select among different kinds of game appropriate to their
bulk. The Gr