The Volucella 



larvae of the Wasp, it is some time before 

 they are suffocated by the petrol; and the 

 great majority are sure to hatch. I take my 

 scissors, cut the most densely-populated bits 

 from the paper wall of the nest and fill a jar 

 with them. This is the warehouse from 

 which I shall daily, for the best part of the 

 next two months, draw my supply of infant 

 grubs. 



The Volucella's egg remains where it is, 

 with its white colouring strongly marked 

 against the grey background of the support. 

 The shell wrinkles and collapses; and the 

 fore-end tears open. From it there issues 

 a pretty little white grub, thin in front, 

 widening slightly in the rear and bristling all 

 over with fleshy papillae. These papillae are 

 set, on the creature's sides, like the teeth of 

 a comb; at the rear, they lengthen and 

 spread into a fan; on the back, they are 

 shorter and arranged in four longitudinal 

 rows. The last segment but one carries two 

 short, bright-red breathing-tubes, standing 

 aslant and joined to each other. The fore- 

 part, near the pointed mouth, is of a darker, 

 brownish colour. This is the biting- and 

 motor-apparatus, seen through the skin and 

 consisting of two fangs. Taken all round, 

 the grub is a comely little thing, with its 

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