198 MINUTE MARVELS OF NATURE 



safety in a scabbard. But one would hardly 

 expect to find an insect carrying a bayonet, 



Fig. 131. Poison bag and sting of a. \vasp 



like the ichneumon fly whose weapon is illustrated 

 in Fig. 132, for the express purpose of plunging 

 into living bodies in order to make a hole for 

 its eggs. 



The living bodies in this instance happen to be 

 caterpillars, and, after the fly has drilled its 



