THE ANIMAL KINGDOM. 151 



other's skin, in order to insert her eggs beneath it. She 

 lays a pretty large number there, and when the young are 

 hatched, protected by the skin, they begin to eat the fat; 

 it is only towards the close of their existence that they 

 assail the vital organs, for, in order to have always plenty 

 of live flesh to devour, these hungry anatomists take good 

 care not to eat into them at first. Then the caterpillar 



78. Caterpillar devoured by the Larvae of Ichneumons, and Caterpillar covered 

 with their Cocoons. 



dies, and the larvae of the ichneumon issue by numerous 

 openings, and spin silky cocoons on the surface of the 

 corpse. These nymphs, swathed in their white winding- 

 sheets of silk, are sometimes so numerous and close to- 

 gether that they entirely conceal their victim. 



This extraordinary peculiarity remained for a long time 

 unknown, even to the most celebrated entomologists ; they 



