POISON-FANG AND STILETTO 177 



made in which to deposit her eggs. Most 

 species of Scolia are very large, and have ex- 

 ceedingly strong mandibles and particularly 

 spiny legs. They inhabit Italy, Spain, North 

 Africa, and some parts of France. The Scolia 

 prefers the larvae of certain large beetles as 

 food for her future offspring ; Scolia flavifrons 

 chooses that of the Rhinoceros beetle, Oryctes 

 nasicornis, a huge, lethargic insect that lives in 

 galleries under the bark of rotten oak trees, or 

 in heaps of tan. The Scolia searches up and 

 down the decayed trunk of a tree, until by some 

 means she discovers that the larva of the beetle 

 is under the bark. She then digs down until 

 she reaches it, stings it into insensibility, and 

 lays an egg, which she glues to the larva's body 

 with a special, natural secretion. In two or 

 three days the Scolia larva hatches out, and at 

 once begins to gnaw a hole in its victim. It 

 steadily continues to devour the beetle larva, 

 growing bigger and bigger in the process, until 

 the whole of the insect is consumed with the 

 exception of the tough skin, which the young 

 Scolia by this time almost fills. Inside the skin 

 the larva now spins its cocoon, so that the 

 Oryctes larva not only furnishes the voracious 

 little creature with food, but afterwards forms a 

 cradle in which its devourer passes the pupal 

 state. 



The wonderful industry displayed by these 

 insects, and the instinct that impels them to 

 provide living food for the young they will never 

 see, is truly remarkable, especially as in the 

 adult state they exist wholly on the nectar of 



