The Leucospes 



cause of Its horny nature, can have but a very 

 dull sense of touch. The insect is only ap- 

 prised of the contents of the cell by the end 

 of that long horse-hair, a not very trust- 

 worthy witness, I should imagine. The ab- 

 sence of resistance tells it that it has reached 

 an empty space; and this is probably the only 

 information that the insensible implement can 

 supply. The drill boring through the rock 

 cannot tell the miner anything about the con- 

 tents of the cavern which it has entered ; and 

 the case must be the same with the rigid fila- 

 ment of the Leucospes. 



Now that it has reached its goal, what does 

 the cell contain? Mildewed honey, dust and 

 rubbish, a shrivelled larva, or a larva in 

 proper condition? Above all, does it already 

 contain an egg? This last question calls for 

 a definite answer, but as a matter of fact it is 

 impossible for the insect to learn anything 

 from a horse-hair on that most delicate mat- 

 ter, the presence or absence of an egg, a mere 

 atom of a thing, in that vast apartment. 

 Even admitting some sense of touch at the 

 end of the drill, one insuperable difficulty 

 would always remain: that of finding the ex- 

 act spot where the tiny speck lies in those 

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