176 THE LIFE OF AN INSECT. 



which the larva has been put, and which is half 

 full of water, a few drops of a solution of carmine, 

 by means of a little tube introduced into the 

 water, and made to drop its contents near the 

 tail of the creature. Immediately it will be seen 

 that the coloured liquid is rapidly sucked in by 

 the tail of the insect, and then, after the expiration 

 of a little time, is forced back again in a tiny jet, 

 with considerable violence, to a distance of several 

 inches.* Reaumur tells us, that if we hold the 

 insect between the finger and thumb gently, and let 

 fall a drop of water on its tail, we shall presently 

 see it eagerly sucked in, the body of the insect 

 becoming sensibly larger ; and by-and-by it is 

 thrown out again. Sometimes it raises its tail 

 above the surface of the water, and, whether for 

 sport or not, it is hard to say, squirts the water in 

 a mimic jet to some distance. 



The apparatus has been described as resembling 

 the piston or plunger of a force-pump, which 

 moves to and fro within a cavity inside the insect's 

 body, and by that means draws in and forces out 

 the water. The tail is defended by a sort of 



* The insect in the act of squirting is shown in the Frontis- 

 piece to this Part. 



