The Larva and the Nymph 89 



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 ^g'g is in- 

 variably laid ; it is here that the young larva 

 always takes its first bite at its prey. Gnawed 

 at a point no longer susceptible to pain, the 

 Cricket remains motionless. Later, when the 

 wound has reached a sensitive 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 explains why the ^^'g is 

 laid on a spot which never varies, near the 

 wounds caused by the sting — in short, on the 

 thorax : not in the middle, 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 dark- 

 ness, she discerns the one suitable spot on the 

 victim and selects it for her ^^'^ ! 



I have reared Sphex-grubs by giving them, 

 one after the other, the Crickets taken from 

 the cells ; and I was then able to follow day 

 by day the rapid progress of my nurselings. 

 The first Cricket, the one on whom the o.^'g was 



