CHAPTER XXXII 



PARALYZED PROVENDER 



In the black chambers of a solitary wasp's nest lie six 

 growing youngsters. They are greyish, maggot-like crea- 

 tures, each consisting of twelve rings or segments surmount- 

 ed by a more or less bony or chitinous head that in turn sup- 

 ports a pair of sharp incurved mandibles. Their bodies are 

 plump and pudgy ; they possess no adequate appendages for 

 locomotion and in the light their skins glisten, as if moistened 

 with liquid. 



Each will eventually become a wasp, an active domin- 

 ant creature with a delicate taste for nectar. But that is far 

 off in the insect future, perhaps some forty days hence. 

 They are concerned now only with the meals that are set 

 before them, spiders that the parent wasp has selected as 

 dainty provender. 



In each cell of the nest the mother insect deposits her 

 bowed egg among the mass of spiders that are paralyzed by 

 her sting. She hunts them abroad in the forest or among the 

 fallen leaves in the sunny trails, discovers their hiding place 

 and swoops hawk-like upon the unfortunates. There is a 

 struggle perhaps, a short one, the wasp's sting soon finds 

 its mark, plunges home, and in an instant the spider lies 

 limply upon its threshold. The victim is not dead, instead 

 it is only plunged into a state of paralysis that instantly 

 binds the muscles fast. It cannot move again in self defence, 

 cannot command the power of its legs. It is still a living 

 thing unconscious of life. Thus, slightly quivering from the 

 shock and poison, it is borne to the victor's nest, deposited 

 roughly in a cell with several other equally unfortunate 

 ones, sealed forever from the light of day and abandoned 

 as helpless living flesh for the young wasp to gorge upon. 



