The Problem of the Scoliae 



some essential organ, which should have been 

 respected until the end in order to keep the 

 victuals fresh. Remember how difficult it 

 is to complete the rearing when the tiny 

 larva is moved from the place chosen by the 

 mother. The game promptly becomes pu- 

 trid and the Scolia dies. 



It is impossible for me to state the precise 

 motives which lead to the adoption of the 

 spot on which the egg is laid; I can perceive 

 general reasons, but the details escape me, 

 as I am not well enough versed in the more 

 delicate questions of anatomy and entomo- 

 logical physiology. What I do know with 

 absolute certainty is that the same spot is 

 invariably chosen for laying the egg. With 

 not a single exception, on all the victims ex- 

 tracted from the heap of garden mould — 

 and they are numerous — the egg is fixed 

 behind the ventral surface, on the verge of 

 the brown patch formed by the contents of 

 the digestive system. 



If there be nothing to guide her, what 

 chance has the mother of gluing her egg to 

 this point, which is always the same because 

 it is that most favourable to successful rear- 

 ing? A very small point, represented by the 

 ratio of two or three square millimetres ^ 



1 About Vioo square inch. — Translator's Note. 

 119 



