The Cabbage-caterpilbr 



jar would tell against the inspection of the 

 troop, kept at too great a distance by the glass 

 enclosure; and I therefore select a tube an inch 

 wide. I place in this a shred of cabbage-leaf, 

 bearing a slab of eggs, as laid by the Butter- 

 fly. I next introduce the inmates of one of 

 my spare vessels. A strip of paper smeared 

 with honey accompanies the new arrivals. 



This happens early in July. Soon, the 

 females are there, fussing about, sometimes 

 to the extent of blackening the whole slab of 

 yellow eggs. They inspect the treasure, flut- 

 ter their wings and brush their hind-legs 

 against each other, a sign of keen satisfaction. 

 They sound the heap, probe the interstices 

 with their antennae and tap the individual 

 eggs with their palpi ; then, this one here, that 

 one there, they quickly apply the tip of their 

 abdomen to the egg selected. Each time, we 

 see a slender, horny prickle darting from the 

 ventral surface, close to the end. This is the 

 instrument that deposits the germ under the 

 film of the egg; it is the inoculation-needle. 

 The operation is performed calmly and me- 

 thodically, even when several mothers are 

 working at one and the same time. Where 

 one has been, a second goes, followed by a 



369 



