More Hunting Wasps 



and hidden in the folds of the larva's body. 

 If she miscalculates, she may be killed: the 

 larva, irritated by the smarting puncture, is 

 strong enough to disembowel her with the 

 tusks of its mandibles. If she escapes the 

 danger, she will nevertheless perish without 

 leaving any offspring, since the necessary pro- 

 visions will be lacking. Salvation for her- 

 self and her race depends on this: whether 

 at the first thrust she is able to reach the 

 little nervous plexus which measures barely 

 one-fiftieth of an inch in width. What 

 chance has she of plunging her lancet into it, 

 if there is nothing to guide her? The chance 

 represented by unity compared with the num- 

 ber of points composing the victim's body. 

 The odds are as one against immensity. 



Let us proceed still further. The sting 

 has reached the mark; the fat grub is de- 

 prived of movement. At what spots should 

 the egg now be laid? In front, behind, on 

 the sides, the back or the belly? The choice 

 is not a matter of indifference. The young 

 grub will pierce the skin of its provender at 

 the very spot on which the egg was fixed; 

 and, once an opening is made, it will go 

 ahead without hesitation. If this point of 

 attack is ill-chosen, the nurseling runs the 

 risk of presently finding under its mandibles 

 ii8 



