We even begin to wonder whether other species may not be inclined to derive a direct advantage from the hunting imposed upon them for the maintenance of the family. The Odynerus' method of work, the splitting open of the anal still-room, is too far removed from the obvious procedure to have many imitators; it is a secondary detail and impracticable with a different kind of game. But there is sure to be a certain variety in the direct means of utilizing the capture. Why, for instance, when the victim paralysed by the sting contains a delicious broth in some part of its stomach, should the huntress scruple to violate her dying prey and force it to disgorge without injuring the quality of the provisions? There must be those who rob the dead, attracted not by the flesh but by the exquisite contents of the crop. In point of fact, there are; and they are even numerous. We may mention in the first rank the Wasp that hunts Hive-bees, the Bee-eating Philanthus (P. apivorus, LATR.). I long suspected her of perpetrating these acts of brigandage on her own behalf, having often surprised her gluttonously licking the Bee's honey-smeared mouth; I had an inkling that she did not always hunt solely for the benefit of her larvae. The suspicion deserved to be confirmed by experiment. Also, I was engaged in another investigation, which might easily be conducted simultaneously with the one suggested: I wanted to study, with all the leisure of work done at home, the operating-methods employed by the different Hunting Wasps. I therefore made use, for the Philanthus, of the process of experimenting under glass which I roughly outlined when speaking of the Odynerus. It was even the Bee-huntress who gave me my first data in this direction. She responded to my wishes with such zeal that I believed myself to possess an unequalled means of observing again and again, even to excess, what is so difficult to achieve on the actual spot. Alas, the first-fruits of my acquaintance with the Philanthus promised me more than the future held in store for me! But we will not anticipate; and we will place the huntress and her game together under the bell-glass. I recommend this experiment to whoever would wish to see with what perfection in the art of attack and defence a Hunting Wasp wields the stiletto. There is no uncertainty here as to the result, there is no long wait: the moment when she catches sight of the prey in an attitude favourable to her designs, the bandit rushes forward and kills. I will describe how things happen.