82 NATURE STUDY. 



chrysalis, it is really nothing remarkable, but merely one 

 tragic act in that terrible struggle for existence that is con- 

 tinually going on all around us. 



Had we been present at the first act of this tragedy, we 

 should have observ^ed, sometime before the larva was cap- 

 tured, a scene something like this : The caterpillar would 

 have been seen feeding quietl}' upon the wild caraway, the 

 parsnip, or some allied plant, totally unconscious of any 

 danger, while hovering near it we should have noticed an- 

 other insect, measuring an inch or an inch and a half in 

 length, and of a light j^ellowish brown color, looking as 

 much like an over-grown hornet wdth an extremely long 

 abdomen as anything. 



By and bye, this insect would dart down and, with its 

 sharp ovipositor, place an egg in the body of the caterpil- 

 lar, and then depart in search of another victim. The 

 larva, apparently not at all injured, would continue eating, 

 and it was at this time that it was captured. 



In due time the caterpillar ceased to eat, and, hanging 

 itself from the top of the cage, formed the customary angu- 

 lar pupa, suspended by the tail, and supported by the silk- 

 en girdle around the middle. 



But now comes the time when the offspring of the ich- 

 neumon-fl}^ does his deadly work. The egg, soon after it 

 had been laid upon the daterpillar, hatched, and the larva 

 bored its way into the bod}^ of its unwilling host, and now 

 has been steadily eating awa}^ until nothing remains but 

 the hard outside shell of the chrysalis, and the larva of 

 the ichneumon has become a pupa, waiting for the time 

 when it shall burst forth a full-fledged hymenopteron. 



As usual, the insect matured and attempted to force its 

 way out of the shell of the chrysalis, but it did not suc- 

 ceed. Either the temperature of the room was too high, 

 or the air too dry, or perhaps j^ou would prefer to call it a 

 just punishment sent upon the guilty. At any rate, the 



