THE BLUE HUNTRESS 73 



Its mandibles are capable of masticating what remains of the feast. 

 In. short, it sips the cream first and eats the porridge afterwards. 



After five days of continuous gorging, the larva treats itself to a 

 short rest before spinning its cocoon. During the five days, the spider 

 has- vanished so completely from the cell that only a microscope re- 

 veals a few uneaten hairs. These adhere to the larva's tacky skin, 

 and thus escape the stomachward journey. I have never seen such 

 a hog! Long after the feast is over, when the dishes have been licked 

 clean, so to speak, the glutted one continues to Fletcherize upon 

 the air. 



The act reveals how hard and fast are the instinctive rules govern- 

 ing the insect's behavior. The larva hatches upon the spider's body. 

 As soon as its mandibles become strong enough, they commence to 

 tear and chew automatically. A bit more or a bit less provender in 

 the cell is of no consequence whatever. Once started, the jaws con- 

 tinue to work for a certain set length of time that allows for variation 

 in the bulk of the stores. Thus, if the spider be a bit large, it will 

 be consumed readily enough. If a bit small the larva will simply 

 continue, as I have said, to Fletcherize upon the air until the time 

 limit set upon the active period of its mandibles is up. The insect 

 is an automaton, a slave to a power that is not intelligence. 



As an experiment, I introduce two spiders into a cell where one is 

 the normal provender. The larva consumes nearly all of the feast, 

 grows to an abnormal size, but eventually dies. This would appear 

 to contradict the existence of an invariable set of rules governing the 

 insect's life, but such is not the case. I have interfered in the normal 

 course of events and artificially changed those rules at the outset by 

 doubling the amount of provisions in the cell. The wasp's life is like 

 a chemical compound, the ingredients of which correspond to these 

 rules and depend upon one another for the ultimate result. Thus 



