36 INSECT BEHAVIOR 



the ancestral form of the wasp, transformed by what we might call 

 a "second birth," from its lowly worm-like body into an utterly 

 different and highly specialized member of the topmost order of 

 modern insects. 



We have traced the larva from the time the parent wasp deposited 

 it as a tiny egg upon the roach's body. We have watched its growth 

 from day to day and observed how it tackles one victim, consumes 

 it, searches out a second, then a third and fourth: how it eats the 

 tender portions first and returns later to coarser fare. Its actions are 

 almost those of a creature conscious of its life and appetite, which 

 thinks only of its stomach and so many good things to be consumed. 

 But the minute the repast is over, and the cocoon spun, we see this 

 energetic and ravenous bit of life cease all outward activities. 



From young to full-grown larva, the creature is, in a measure, 

 master of itself. It moves about in the cell of its own accord, feeds 

 itself copiously and rests if need be, but thereafter it must surrender 

 to an incomprehensible power, an invisible surgeon who will anes- 

 thetize the grub, tear down its old body and bring forth a new and 

 better creature from the havoc of his scalpel. 



During the operation, many of the larval organs and tissues are 

 entirely done away with, and at the same time many parts of the new 

 insect are derived from them. There is no spilling of blood, no 

 suffering, no consciousness of what is taking place within the larval 

 skin. From the exterior we see nothing to hint of what is transpiring. 

 All is serene during the ten days that the operation requires for com- 

 pletion. 



This strange process of "second birth" (I have no adequate term 

 for it), is unknown in creatures other than insects. From the blood 

 and tissues of the horse, the foetus is produced, and eventually born. 

 It arrives quite like the parent except for minor details. Without 

 radical changes it feeds, lives and grows to maturity. In the 



