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.  This being granted, let us consider the method of the aggressor more closely.  She does not paralyse its captives according to the customary rites of the predatory insects; she kills them.  Why?  To the eyes of understanding the necessity of a sudden death is as clear as day.  Without eviscerating the bee, which would result in the deterioration of its flesh considered as food for the larvae; without having recourse to the bloody extirpation of the stomach, the Philanthus intends to obtain its honey.  By skilful manipulation, by cunning massage, she must somehow make the bee disgorge.  Suppose the bee stung in the rear of the corselet and paralysed.  It is deprived of locomotion, but not of vitality.  The digestive apparatus, in particular, retains in full, or at least in part, its normal energies, as is proved by the frequent dejections of paralysed victims so long as the intestine is not emptied; a fact notably exemplified by the victims of the Sphex family; helpless creatures which I have before now kept alive for forty days with the aid of a little sugared water.  Well! without therapeutic means, without emetics or stomach-pumps, how is a stomach intact and in good order to be persuaded to yield up its contents?  That of the bee, jealous of its treasure, will lend itself to such treatment less readily than another.  Paralysed, the creature is inert; but there are always internal energies and organic resistances which will not yield to the pressure of the manipulator.  In vain would the Philanthus gnaw at the throat and squeeze the flanks; the honey would not return to the mouth as long as a trace of life kept the stomach closed.

Matters are different with a corpse.  The springs relax; the muscles yield; the resistance of the stomach ceases, and the vessels containing the honey are emptied by the pressure of the thief.  We see, therefore, that the Philanthus is obliged to inflict a sudden death which instantly destroys the contractile power of the organs.  Where shall the deadly blow be delivered?  The slayer knows better than we, when she pierces the victim beneath the chin.  Through the narrow breach in the throat the cerebral ganglions are reached and immediate death ensues.