The Mason- Wasps 



of her palisade of threads possesses for the 

 Great Peacock. If ill-ordered, entangled 

 and therefore intractable when pushed, the 

 series of boxed cones will offer an insur- 

 mountable resistance and the Moth will per- 

 ish, a victim of the caterpillar's imperfect 

 art. If constructed with mathematical ac- 

 curacy, but with sparse rows of threads in 

 insufficient numbers, it will leave the retreat 

 exposed to dangers from without and the 

 chrysalis will become the prey of some in- 

 truder, of whom there are many in search 

 of somnolent nymphs, formir)g easy victims. 

 For the caterpillar, therefore, this double- 

 acting mouth is a work of the highest im- 

 portance. It has to expend upon it all that 

 it possesses in foresight, in gleams of rea- 

 son and in art capable of modification when 

 circumstances require; it must in short give 

 proof of the best of which its talents are 

 capable. Let us follow it in its labours; 

 let us interpose the experimental test; and 

 we shall learn some curious facts. 



The cocoon and its opening are con- 

 structed simultaneously. When it has woven 

 this or that part of the general wall, the 

 caterpillar turns about, If need be, and with 

 its unbroken thread proceeds to continue 

 the palisade of converging filaments. To 



122 



