The Glow-Worm and Other Beetles 



emerge; they consume what is not essential 

 to the life of the moment and are very care- 

 ful not to touch the organs which are indis- 

 pensable at the present time. If these re- 

 ceived a bite, the host would die and so would 

 they. Towards the end of their growth, 

 prudence and discretion being no longer es- 

 sential, they make a complete clearance of the 

 victim, leaving only the skin, which will serve 

 them for a shelter. 



One satisfaction is vouchsafed me in these 

 horrible orgies: I see that the Tachina in her 

 turn is subjected to severe reductions. How 

 many were there on the larva's back? Per- 

 haps eight, ten or more. One Midge, never 

 more than one, comes out of the victim's 

 skin, for the morsel is too small to provide 

 food for many. What has become of the 

 others? Has there been an internecine bat- 

 tle inside the poor wretch's body? Have 

 they eaten one another up, leaving only the 

 strongest to survive, or the one most fa- 

 voured by the chances of the fight? Or has 

 one of them, earlier developed than the rest, 

 found himself master of the stronghold and 

 have the others preferred to die outside 

 rather than enter a grub already occupied, 

 where famine would be rife if the messmates 

 numbered even two? I am all for mutual 

 422 



