The Life of Jean Henri Fabre 



human wisdom. This first law of instinct is 

 brought into especial prominence by the 

 author of the Souvenirs in his study of the 

 Hunting Wasps. 



These Wasps, which are themselves purely 

 vegetarian, know that their larvae must have 

 animal food; fresh succulent flesh still quiv- 

 ering with life. 



Some, like the Common Wasp, which 

 watches over the growth of its offspring, 

 feed the larvae from day to day, as the bird 

 brings beakfuls of food to its nestlings, and 

 these kill their prey, which they are thus able 

 to serve to their larvae perfectly fresh. 



But the majority do not watch over the 

 hatching or the growth of their larvae. They 

 are forced therefore to lay up a store of food 

 beforehand. They know this, and are not 

 found wanting. But here they are confronted 

 by a most difficult problem. If the prey car- 

 ried to the nest is dead, it will quickly 

 putrefy; it cannot possibly keep fresh, as it 

 must, for the weeks and months of the 

 larva's growth. If it is alive it cannot easily 

 be seized by the larvae, and will represent a 

 menace or even a deadly danger. The Wasp 

 must discover the secret of producing, in her 

 victims, the immobility of death together 

 with the incorruptibility of life. And the 

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