206 WASPS AND THEIR WAYS 



has changed into a large fat one that 

 almost fills the cell — all the spiders have 

 been consumed. Not even the legs have 

 been omitted, but all that was spider has 

 been reduced to food by the powerful 

 digestion of the ever-hungry larva. 



Nothing now remains but a young glut- 

 ton, which, having devoured its whole store 

 of provisions, fortunately discovers that it 

 no longer craves food. It craves rest and 

 a snug retreat. From its lip exudes a fluid 

 that upon exposure to the air hardens into 

 silk. It moves its head restlessly ; wher- 

 ever its mouth touches the wall of the cell, 

 a thread of silk is drawn out. 

 f^x Soon it begins to spin in 



earnest, and forms a loose lin- 

 ing to its cell. Then it forms 

 a close, dense covering about its body. At 

 first this covering is nearly white, but it 

 soon changes to a dark-brown, brittle case, 

 that looks like the shell of a butterfly 

 chrysalis, excepting that it is very fragile 



