THE ADVENTURES OF A GRUB 



her fleece are comfortably housed. Let us leave the 

 unhappy mother to continue her fruitless task, and turn 

 our attention to the young larva which has so cleverly 

 secured for itself board and lodging. 



Let us suppose that we remove the lid from a cell in 

 which the egg, recently laid, supports a Sitaris-grub. 

 The egg is intact and in perfect condition. But now 

 the work of destruction begins. The grub, a tiny black 

 speck which we see running over the white surface of 

 the egg, at last stops and balances itself firmly on its 

 six legs; then, seizing the delicate skin of the egg with 

 the sharp hooks of its mandibles, it tugs at it violently 

 till it breaks and spills the contents. These contents 

 the grub eagerly drinks up. Thus the first stroke of the 

 parasite's mandibles is aimed at the destruction of the 

 Bee's egg. 



This is a very wise precaution on the part of the 

 Sitaris-grub I It will have to feed on the honey in the 

 cell: the Bee's grub which would come out of the egg 

 would also require the honey: there is not enough for 

 two. So — quick I — a bite at the egg, and the difficulty 

 is removed. 



Moreover, another reason for the destruction of the 

 egg is that special tastes compel the young Sitaris to 

 make its first meals of it. The tiny creature begins by 

 greedily drinking the juices which the torn wrapper of 



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