]34 LIFE STORIES OF AUSTRALIAN INSECTS. 



a lens we saw that there was a tiny green maggot 

 making its way out of the caterpillar, and the white 

 patch Avas the shell of the head end of the latter, 

 and the maggot was making its way out by the 

 anal end of the caterpillar. (Plate 17, Fig. 2.) By 

 turning and twisting its body in a half circle the 

 wasp maggot extricated itself from the remains of 

 its host. At 8.25 p.m., the maggot was quite free 

 and crawled about a quarter of an inch away. It 

 was now shorter and thicker. It then fastened 

 itself at each end by a series of rope-like threads 

 (Plate 17, Fig. 3), and gradually it began to spin 

 itself within a cocoon of stout threads. We watched 

 it working steadily, turning this way and that, till 

 at 9 a.m. it could just be seen with head curved 

 under the body and still moving it backwards and 

 forwards. At 11 a.m. it could not be seen. There 

 were thin patches on the cocoon where the threads 

 were not so densely woven, and as the body of the 

 pupa darkened the darker surface showed through 

 the thin spots of the Avhite cocoon, giving it its 

 mottled appearance. 



The adult ichneumon escaped by cutting a hole 

 at the end of the cocoon. It hatched out in a 

 fortnight ; it was like a tiny Ophion ichneumon. 



We noted that it was only the very young cater- 

 pillars that were parasitised. If they escaped dur- 

 ing that stage they were not subsequently attacked ; 

 for on capturing a dozen larger larvae and keeping 

 them in a box, all pupated in due course, and the 

 adults emerged, 



