250 SOCIAL LIFE IN THE INSECT WORLD 



mouthful of the grub is in question. To place the egg 

 in a position where the new-born grub will find light 

 and juicy and easily digested nutriment is not enough 

 for those far-seeing mothers ; their cares look beyond this 

 point. An intermediary period is desirable, which will lead 

 the little larva from the delicacies of its first hours to the 

 diet of hard acorn. This intermediary period is passed 

 in the gallery, the work of the maternal beak. There it 

 finds the crumbs, the shavings bitten off by the chisels of 

 the rostrum. Moreover, the walls of the tunnel, which 

 are softened by mortification, are better suited than the 

 rest of the acorn to the tender mandibles of the larva. 



Before setting to work on the cotyledons the grub 

 does, in fact, commence upon the contents and walls of 

 this tiny passage. It first consumes the shavings lying 

 loose in the passage ; it devours the brown fragments 

 adhering to the walls ; finally, being now sufficiently 

 strengthened, it attacks the body of the acorn, plunges 

 into it, and disappears. The stomach is ready ; the rest 

 is a blissful feast. 



This intermediary tunnel must be of a certain length, 

 in order to satisfy the needs of infancy, so the mother 

 must labour at the work of drilling. If the perforation 

 were made solely with the purpose of tasting the material 

 at the base of the acorn and recognising its degree of 

 maturity, the operation might be very much shorter, since 

 the hole could be sunk through the cup itself from a point 

 close to the base. This fact is not unrecognised ; I have 

 on occasion found the insect perforating the scaly cup. 



In such a proceeding I see the attempt of a gravid 

 mother pressed for time to obtain prompt information. 

 If the acorn is suitable the boring will be recommenced 



