534 



PREPARATION OF FOOD FOR INSECT-LARVAE. 



seeks for the dead body of a mole, shrew, or such other 

 quadruped ; and having found one, she excavates beneath it 

 a hole of sufficient dimensions to contain the body, which she 

 gradually drags into it; she then de- 

 posits her eggs in the carcase, so that 

 the larvse, when they come forth, find 

 themselves in the midst of a supply of 

 carrion, on which they feed like their 

 parents. This instinct is still more 

 remarkable, when an Insect whose diet 

 is exclusively vegetable prepares for its 

 larva a supply of animal food. Such is 

 the case with the Pompilus, an Insect 

 allied to the wasp. In its perfect state 

 it lives entirely on the juices of flowers ; but the larvae are 

 carnivorous ; and the mother provides for them the requisite 

 supply of the food they require, by placing in the nest, by 

 the side of the eggs, the body of a spider or caterpillar which 

 she had previously killed by means of her sting. The Xylocopa, 



Fig. 274. NECROPHORUS. 



Fig. 275. XYLOCOPA. 



Fig. 276. NEST OP XYLOCOPA. 



or Carpenter-bee (fig. 275), has very analogous habits ; the 

 female makes long burrows in wood, palings, &c., in which 

 she excavates a series of cells (fig. 276) ; and in every one of 

 these she deposits an egg, with a supply of pollen-paste. 



704. The instinct of support and protection to the young 

 and helpless offspring, is seen in all animals in which it is 

 needed; and it is particularly observable in Birds. The nests 



