152 WASPS AND THEIR WAYS 



about, powerless, before the multitude of 

 invaders, to render any protection to their 

 young." 



The worst enemies of the wasps are to 

 be found within their own nests, from 

 parasites of their own Order. 



Certain little chrysis flies are bred in the 

 nests at the expense of the wasps. 



The bold mother chrysis enters the nest, 

 deposits her own egg in the cell with a 

 wasp larva, and when the chrysis hatches 

 it proceeds to suck the juices of its host. 

 As the chrysis lives and commits its dep- 

 redations at the bottom of the cell, below 

 the wasp larva, it is not discovered. 



Perhaps the nurse wasps wonder why 

 some of their little charges are so sickly, 

 but there is reason enough, for their life 

 juices are being drained, and when they 

 have finally spun their cocoons they are 

 wholly at the mercy of the enemy and 

 dwindle to a small shrunken mass, while 

 the young chrysis, fat and hearty, finally 



