5C FABKE'S BOOK OF INSECTS 



I always find the egg, not on the surface of the heap, but 

 on the first Spider that was stored. There is no exception 

 to this rule. The Wasp places a Spider at the bottom of the 

 cell, lays her egg upon it, and then piles the other Spiders 

 on the top. By this clever plan the grub is obliged to begin 

 on the oldest of the dead Spiders, and then go on to the more 

 recent. It always finds in front of it food that has not had 

 time to decompose. 



The egg is always laid on the same part of the Spider, 

 the end containing the head being placed on the plumpest 

 spot. This is very pleasant for the grub, for the moment it 

 is hatched it can begin eating the tenderest and nicest food 

 in the store. Not a mouthful is wasted, however, by these 

 economical creatures. When the meal is finished, there is 

 practically nothing left of the whole heap of Spiders. This 

 life of gluttony lasts for eight or ten days. 



The grub then sets to work to spin its cocoon, a sack of 

 pure, perfectly white silk, extremely delicate. Something 

 more is required to make this sack tough enough to be a 

 protection, so the grub produces from its body a sort of 

 liquid varnish. As soon as it trickles into the meshes of the 

 silk this varnish hardens, and becomes a lacquer of exquisite 

 daintiness. The grub then fixes a hard plug at the base of 

 the cocoon to make all secure. 



When finished, the work is amber-yellow, and rather 

 reminds one of the outer skin of an onion. It has the same 

 fine texture, the same colour and transparency ; and like 

 the onion skin it rustles when it is fingered. From it, sooner 

 or later according to temperature, the perfect insect is 

 hatched. 



It is possible, while the Wasp is storing her cell, to play 

 her a trick which will show how purely mechanical her instincts 

 are. A cell has just been completed, let us suppose, and 

 the huntress arrives with her first Spider. She stores it away, 

 and at once fastens her egg on the plumpest part of its body. 



