50 STUDIES IN INSECT LIFE, ETC. 



hard chitinous cuticle, only one pair of salivary 

 glands (not three) whose secretion will soon harden 

 to form the case of the cocoon ; the alimentary 

 canal ends blindly, and indeed the digestion of the 

 small larva is so complete that there is no reason 

 why it should end in any other way. 



As soon as the larva has left the egg-shell 

 the workers hurry up with a supply of nutri- 

 ment. At first this consists of food which they 

 themselves secrete from their salivary glands. 

 It is known as " pap " or " royal jelly "' and 

 has a white or yellowish jelly-like appearance. 

 The workers fill the cell with this food and the 

 larva not only eagerly laps it into her mouth 

 but probably absorbs this pabulum, in which 

 she floats, through her tender skin. On the 

 fourth day the worker-larva is partially weaned 

 and her food is now mixed with honey ; after 

 the same period the drones are completely weaned 

 and are henceforth fed entirely on honey and 

 pollen. The queen-larvae, on the other hand, 

 are always and solely fed on " royal pap/' and 

 consume great quantities of it, the roomy royal- 

 cell being flooded with it. This food has an 

 extraordinary effect on the future of the brood ; 

 if continuously given to a larva of the worker- 



