The Crioceres 



always be operators who, varying in cun- 

 ning, in size, in implements, will inoculate 

 you with their deadly germs. 



Not even the lily-dweller, with her dirty 

 ways, is safe. Her grub is as often the prey 

 of another Tachina, larger than that of the 

 Field Crioceris. The parasite, I am con- 

 vinced, does not sow her eggs upon the vic- 

 tim so long as the latter is wrapped in its 

 repulsive great-coat; but a moment's impru- 

 dence gives her a favourable opportunity. 



When the time comes for the grub to bury 

 itself in the ground, there to undergo the 

 transformation, it lays aside its mantle, with 

 the object perhaps of easing itself when it 

 descends from the top of the plant, or else 

 with the object of taking a bath in that kindly 

 sunlight whereof it has hitherto tasted so 

 little under its moist coverlet. This naked 

 journey over the leaves, the last joy of its 

 larval life, is fatal to the traveller. Up 

 comes the Tachina, who, finding a clean skin, 

 all sleek with fat, loses no time in dabbing 

 her eggs upon it. 



A census of the intact and of the Injured 

 larvae provides us with particulars which 

 agree with what we foresaw from the nature 

 of their respective lives. The most ex- 

 posed to parasites is the Field Crioceris, 

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