The Larva and the Nymph 



itself in the grips of those dreadful man- 

 dibles. 



But there is one part of the body where no 

 such danger is to be feared, the part which 

 the Wasp has wounded with her sting, in 

 short, the thorax. Here and here alone, on 

 a victim of recent date, the experimenter can 

 rummage with a needle, driving it through 

 and through, without producing a sign of 

 suffering in the patient. Well, it is here that 

 the egg is invariably laid; it is here that the 

 young larva always takes its first bite at its 

 prey. Gnawed at a point no longer suscep- 

 tible to pain, the Cricket remains motionless. 

 Later, when the wound has reached a sensi- 

 tive point, he will doubtless toss about to such 

 extent as he can ; but then it will be too late : 

 his torpor will be too deep; and besides the 

 enemy will have gained strength. This ex- 

 plains why the egg is laid on a spot which 

 never varies, near the wounds caused by the 

 sting, in short, on the thorax: not in the mid- 

 dle, where the skin would perhaps be too 

 thick for the new-born grub, but on one side, 

 towards the juncture of the legs, where it is 

 much thinner. What a judicious choice, how 

 logical on the part of the mother when, 

 underground, in complete darkness, she dis- 

 95 



