394 



Marvels of Insect Life. 



Photos by] [£. .S7i'/>, F.I..S. 



Early Stages of the Old Lady. 



The upper photograph shows the full-grown cater- 

 pillar of the natural size. The eggs are laid in 

 August, and a little later the young caterpillars 

 may be found feeding on low-growing plants. 

 The chrysalis is at first red and glossy, but soon 

 becomes dull with a coating of bluish " bloom." 



laid in the cells for some time. So the workers 

 went off to enjoy themselves during the very 

 short spell of life still left to them. They knew 

 that with the first night- frost of autumn the 

 older and weaker of them would die. It was 

 their last chance of a brief spell of enjoyment 

 unfettered by the responsibilities of sisterhood. 

 vSo they sallied forth to a neighbouring plum-tree 

 where the fruit was bursting its skin with over- 

 ripeness. They had laboured long for the fruit- 

 grower and his kind, killing millions of noxious 

 Insects to use as food for the grubs in the combs, 

 and now for once the}^ had only pleasure to think 

 of. The newly emerged virgin princess went 

 with them, and feasted royally upon the sweet 

 juices of Victoria plums. It was there she met 

 her husband, a smart young drone from a neigh- 

 bouring nest. Although smart, he was, perhaps, 

 not over-wise. After a brief but happy time 

 together, he must venture to explore a bottle 

 that was hanging from a branch. Whether it 

 was the odour of sweetness that came from the 

 bottle, or the sight of hundreds of other wasps 

 inside, struggling to drink of the liquid it con- 

 tained, she could not tell ; but he insisted on 

 going, and paid for his rashness by getting 

 drowned. It is to be feared that the princess 

 was not greatly concerned at this loss. Wasps 

 and bees, and, indeed, most Insects, set but slight 

 value upon their males. The responsibilities 

 of parentage, and the toils consecpient thereon, 

 are discharged by the females. 



After she had feasted sufficiently on 

 plum-juice, the princess flew into the open 

 window of a house, and her song as she flew around 

 attracted the attention of a woman, who made 

 various attempts to strike her down with a bread 

 knife. If the princess had been waspish in the 

 dictionary meaning of the adjective, she could 

 have alighted on the back of her neck and stabbed 

 her persecutor. But she had no wish to use her 

 defence unnecessarily ; so seeing some open 

 book-shelves near at hand, she flew to the top 

 of a book labelled Mans Place in Nattirc, and 

 crept back into the shadows behind it. Here 



