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Here also swarm their exterminators: the Sitaris beetle, the parasite of the Anthophora; the Anthrax fly, the murderer of the Osmia. Ill informed as to the proper period, I have come rather late, on the 10th of September. I should have been here a month ago, or even by the end of July, to watch the fly's operations.
Why, the imitation would have exactly the opposite effect! With the exception of the Social Bees, who work at a common task, failure would be certain, for here, as among mankind, two of a trade never agree. An Osmia, an Anthophora, a Chalicodoma had better be careful not to poke an indiscreet head in at her neighbour's door: a sound drubbing would soon recall her to a sense of the proprieties.
Before describing the larva in detail we will wait for it to attain its full development, which cannot take long, for the provisions are rapidly diminishing. The rapidity however is not to be compared with that with which the gluttonous larvæ of the Anthophora consume their food.
Lastly, in the inner surface of the cork which closes the jar I sink a cylindrical well, a blind alley, of the same diameter as the corridors of the Anthophora. In order that the insect, if it so desire, may enter this artificial corridor, I lay the bottle horizontally.
Anthocharis genutia. Anthocharis sara. Anthophora acervorum, large male of. Anthophora retusa, difference of the sexes in. Anthropidae. Anthus, moulting of. Antics of birds. Antigua, Dr. Nicholson's observations on yellow fever in. Antilocapra americana, horns of. Antilope bezoartica, horned females of; sexual difference in the colour of. Antilope Dorcas and euchore. Antilope euchore, horns of.
This series of circumstances results only in the introduction of a single Sitaris into a chamber; the moment which must be profited by is too short for many of them to seize. If the female Anthophora carries others hidden in her hairs, they are obliged to await a new hatching to let themselves glide off.
The only homes that I know her to inhabit are the reeds of the hurdles and the deserted cells of the Masked Anthophora. All the other Osmiae whose method of nest-building I know work with green putty, a paste made of some crushed leaf or other; and none of them, except Latreille's Osmia, is provided with the horned or tubercled armour of the mud-kneaders.
When dropping her egg upon the honey, therefore, the Anthophora at the same time deposits in her cell the mortal enemy of her race; she carefully plasters the lid which closes the entrance to the cell; and all is done. A second cell is built beside it, probably to suffer the same fatal doom; and so on until the more or less numerous parasites sheltered by her down are all accommodated.
I even slip the Sitares into the cells: I place them on the sides of the larva, a succulent morsel to all appearances; I do all sorts of things to tempt their appetite; and, after exhausting my ingenuity, which continues fruitless, I remain convinced that my famished grubs are seeking neither the larvæ nor nymphs of the Anthophora. Let us now try honey.
The cells of the Anthophora, with their faultless geometrical regularity and their perfect finish, are works of art, excavated, at a suitable depth, in the very substance of the loamy bank, without any manufactured part save the thick lid that closes the orifice.
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