60 SOCIAL LIFE IN THE INSECT WORLD 



breath, and preparing in the air for its entry into the 

 world. It hangs there for a variable period ; some larvae 

 let themselves fall at the end of half an hour ; others 

 spend hours in their long-stemmed cup ; some even 

 remain suspended until the following day. 



Whether soon or late, the fall of the larva leaves 

 suspended the thread by which it hung, the wrappings of 

 the primary larva. When all the brood have disappeared, 

 the aperture of the nest is thus hung with a branch of 

 fine, short threads, twisted and knotted together, like 

 dried white of egg. Each thread is expanded into a 

 tiny cup at its free end. These are very delicate and 

 ephemeral relics, which perish at a touch. The least 

 wind quickly blows them away. 



Let us return to the larva. Sooner or later, as we 

 have seen, it falls to the ground, either by accident or 

 intention. The tiny creature, no bigger than a flea, has 

 preserved its tender newly-hatched flesh from contact 

 with the rough earth by hanging in the air until its 

 tissues have hardened. Now it plunges into the troubles 

 of life. 



I foresee a thousand dangers ahead. A mere breath of 

 wind may carry this atom away, and cast it on that 

 inaccessible rock in the midst of a rut in the road which 

 still contains a little water ; or on the sand, the region of 

 famine where nothing grows ; or upon a soil of clay, 

 too tenacious to be tunnelled. These mortal accidents 

 are frequent, for gusts of wind are frequent in the windy 

 and already severe weather of the end of October. 



This delicate organism requires a very soft soil, which 

 can easily be entered, so that it may immediately obtain 

 a suitable shelter. The cold days are coming ; soon the 



