From Frederick Smith March 1866
British Museum
March 1866
⟨one page obscured⟩ or four places—and I have distinct recollection of my own daughter being stung twice or thrice by a wasp that was shut up in the crevaces of her bonnet. In fact I dont recollect any instance of a wasp leaving its sting in the wound.—1
If you have contrary experience you know much more of the matter than I do.—
Neither Bombus or Apathus leave their sting in the wound to my knowledge.2 Pompilus and all the Crabronidae sting repeatedly without damage to the ⟨w⟩eapon of defence3 and ⟨3 or 4 words missing⟩ use their ⟨3 or 4 words missing⟩ on being ⟨cau⟩ght— The most severe and excrutiating pain—although not of long duration—is that produced by the sting of Mutilla, these insects have the sting nearly the length of the abdomen and are most dangerous insects to handle— thus in the extensive Genera Philanthus & Cerceris—both furnished with formidable stings, it is a matter of impossibility to persuade them to use them—4 I have many times experimented in various ways but never succeeded in inducing them to sting— Philanthus you will recollect—preys upon the [Spica] [one line illegible] which they paralyze by stin⟨ging.⟩ Cerceris more frequently selects different [Curculios]— some species ⟨ ⟩licti &c. but none of them will use their sting when caught in the hand—
I may sum up by saying that as far as my observations have l⟨ed⟩ me— I know of no insects that leave their stings in the wound except the species of Honey Bees and I once saw an instance of an Ichneumon—Ophius leaving its ovipositor in a wound5 ⟨prod⟩uced by piercing a Ladys ⟨ ⟩ and with great subsequent pain & inflammation ⟨ ⟩ ⟨ ⟩ Ever yours | sincerely | F Smith
Ch Darwin Esq
CD annotations
Footnotes
Bibliography
Correspondence: The correspondence of Charles Darwin. Edited by Frederick Burkhardt et al. 29 vols to date. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 1985–.
Journal of researches 2d ed.: Journal of researches into the natural history and geology of the countries visited during the voyage of HMS Beagle round the world, under the command of Capt. FitzRoy RN. 2d edition, corrected, with additions. By Charles Darwin. London: John Murray. 1845.
ML: More letters of Charles Darwin: a record of his work in a series of hitherto unpublished letters. Edited by Francis Darwin and Albert Charles Seward. 2 vols. London: John Murray. 1903.
Origin: On the origin of species by means of natural selection, or the preservation of favoured races in the struggle for life. By Charles Darwin. London: John Murray. 1859.
Steiner, André L. 1986. Stinging behaviour of solitary wasps. In Venoms of the Hymenoptera: biochemical, pharmacological and behavioural aspects, edited by Tom Piek. London and Orlando, Fla.: Academic Press.
Tinbergen, Niko. 1969. The study of instinct. With a new introduction. Oxford: Clarendon Press.
Summary
Discusses the stinging habits of wasps and bees and whether or not they leave their sting in the wound.
Letter details
- Letter no.
- DCP-LETT-5023
- From
- Frederick Smith
- To
- Charles Robert Darwin
- Sent from
- British Museum
- Source of text
- DAR 177: 197
- Physical description
- ALS 4pp damaged †, CD note damaged
Please cite as
Darwin Correspondence Project, “Letter no. 5023,” accessed on 23 April 2024, https://www.darwinproject.ac.uk/letter/?docId=letters/DCP-LETT-5023.xml
Also published in The Correspondence of Charles Darwin, vol. 14