PLANTS THAT ENTERTAIN 153 



with great care. In and out among the flower she 

 crawls and flits, scraping a bit of pollen from this 

 anther and a bit from that. Finally, when enough 

 pollen has been gathered to form a ball twice the size 

 of her head, she carries it to another flower. In the 

 pistil of the new flower she darts her ovipositor, 

 making a tiny nest in the soft tissue, where she 

 imbeds her first egg. Her next move is to mount 

 to the top of the style and place the ball of pollen 

 on the stigma, forcing it down into the tube, that 

 it may serve as a cover and protector for her egg. 

 Incidentally, both egg and pollen reach the ovary 

 of the flower, thus fertilising it. Sometimes the 

 moth deposits more than one egg in a pistil, but 

 each egg is placed in a different part, and a fresh 

 act of pollination follows; as if she were making 

 payment in advance for the care which the yucca 

 is to give to each of her babies. 



This is a case of exchange one of the multitude 

 of instances that are found occurring between mem- 

 bers of the plant and the insect kingdoms. The 

 yucca nourishes and cares for the family that it 

 entertains: the moth fertilises its generous hostess. 



When the moth's egg finally hatches, the larva 

 finds itself in a very "garden of paradise." Here 

 it feasts on the delicate tissue of the plant until the 

 plant's own seeds are ripe, when the larva bores 



