ICHNEUMONS, 



57 



awl, but toothed like a saw, only the teeth, seven or 

 eight, are not oblique, but perpendicuhir, a structure 

 better fitted for acting upon clay, as the teeth will 

 not become so readily clog-g-ed, and the instrument 

 will be more easily retracted. The figures will make 

 this more perspicuous than the best description. 



a, the Pxmpla mmrfestntor ; b, its ovipo>itor opened outwaivU; 

 c c c c, magiiilied view of its ovipositor ; d, the tootiied point of 

 the borer. 



In order to study the economy of the mvaon- 

 wasps {(Jdyncri) more effectually, Reaumur made 

 an artificial vespiary of sand and mortar upon a 

 wall, which at the same time gave him 'j^n excellent 

 opportunity of observing the manoeuvres of the ich- 

 neumons. '' I perceived," he tells us, " one of these 

 ichneumons, at the instant it alighted on the spot 

 under which so many of the little green caterj)illars 

 had been stored up by the wasps. Its long tail, 

 which it carried horizontally, appeared to form but 

 0!ie bristle, though it was really composed of three ; 

 and though it carried it on a line with its body, it 

 soon showed me that it was capable both of raising 

 and lowering it, as well as of bending it in various 

 directions, and in different proporiions to its length. 

 It moved its ovipositor so as to bring it into a bent 

 position under its body, protruding it even beyond 

 its own head ; taking care to direct it into the barri- 



