A Dangerous Diet 



rich food which, if consumed according to 

 the rules, should have made it grow plump 

 and lusty. 



I was anxious to observe the deadly effects 

 of a disturbed meal in another fashion. 

 This time the victim itself shall disorder the 

 grub's activities. The Cetonia-larva, as 

 served up to the young Scolia by its mother, 

 is profoundly paralysed. Its inertia is com- 

 plete and so striking that it constitutes one 

 of the leading features of this narrative. 

 But we will not anticipate. For the mo- 

 ment, the thing is to substitute for this inert 

 larva a similar larva, but one not paralysed, 

 one very much alive. To ensure that it shall 

 not double up and crush the grub, I confine 

 myself to reducing it to helplessness, leav- 

 ing it otherwise just as I extracted it from 

 its burrow. I must also be careful of its 

 legs and mandibles, the least touch of which 

 would rip open the nursling. With a few 

 turns of the finest wire I fix it to a little slab 

 of cork, with its belly in the air. Next, 

 to provide the grub with a ready-made 

 hole, knowing that it will refuse to make one 

 for itself, I contrive a slight incision in the 

 skin, at the point where the Scolia lays her 

 egg. I now place the grub upon the larva, 

 69 



