The Life of the Fly 



For a fortnight, the feeble grub remains In 

 the condition which I have described, without 

 growing and very probably also without 

 nourishment. Assiduous though my visits be, 

 I never perceive it taking any refreshment. 

 Besides, what would it eat? In the cocoon in- 

 vaded there is nothing but the larva of the 

 Mason-bee; and the worm cannot make use 

 of this before acquiring the sucker that comes 

 with the second form. Nevertheless, this life 

 of abstinence is not a life of idleness. The 

 animalcule explores its dish, now here, now 

 elsewhere; it runs all over it with Looper 

 strides; it pries Into the neighbourhood by lift- 

 ing and shaking its head. 



I see a need for this long wait under a 

 transitory form that requires no feeding. The 

 egg is laid by the mother on the surface of the 

 nest, somewhere near a suitable cell, I dare 

 say, but still at a distance from the fostering 

 larva, which is protected by a thick rampart. 

 It is for the new-born grub to make its own 

 way to the provisions, not by violence and 

 house-breaking, of which It is incapable, but 

 by patiently slipping through a maze of cracks, 

 first tried, then abandoned, then tried again. 

 It is a very difficult task, even for this most 

 slender worm, for the Bee's masonry is ex- 

 104 



