A BEE-HUNTER: THE _PHILANTHUS AVIPORUS_ To encounter among the Hymenoptera, those ardent lovers of flowers, a species which goes a-hunting on its own account is, to say the least of it, astonishing.

That the larder of the larvae should be provisioned with captured prey is natural enough; but that the provider, whose diet is honey, should itself devour its captives is a fact both unexpected and difficult to comprehend.

We are surprised that a drinker of nectar should become a drinker of blood.

But our surprise abates if we consider the matter closely.

The double diet is more apparent than real; the stomach which fills itself with the nectar of flowers does not gorge itself with flesh.