With no other diet than the honey extracted from their victims I keep my specimens of Philanthus for a fortnight and three weeks.
So much is plain: in a state of freedom, when occasion offers, the Philanthus must kill on her own account as she does in captivity.

The Odynerus asks nothing of the Chrysomela but a simple condiment, the aromatic juice of the anal pouch; the Philanthus demands a full diet, or at least a notable supplement thereto, in the form of the contents of the stomach.

What a hecatomb of bees must not a colony of these pirates sacrifice for their personal consumption, to say nothing of their stores of provisions! I recommend the Philanthus to the vengeance of apiarists.
For the moment we will not look further into the original causes of the crime.

Let us consider matters as we know them, with all their real or apparent atrocity.

In order to nourish herself the Philanthus levies tribute upon the crop of the bee.