414 TROPICAL WILD LIFE IN BRITISH GUIANA 



the wasp's body. Later the hquid is withdrawn and they dry 

 as thin, brittle appendages. 



When the pupal membrane is cast the wasp requires at 

 least another daj^ to rest and gain strength for her emer- 

 gence. She does not issue into the world in the wet, weak 

 condition of the butterfly, to rest and dry in the sunshine 

 before flying to seek her mate. Instead she makes her toilet 

 within the cell and waits for full strength before emerging. 

 Then, everything ready, with knife-like mandibles she cuts 

 a neat round hole through the mossy wall and casts herself 

 to the lot of fate. 



We see her as she emerges, all glistening with the youth 

 of a new generation. A scant forty days have passed since 

 the mother wasp fashioned the emerald nursery upon the 

 swinging air root. 



