How Animals Work. 



to possess the power of moving their jaws and the hind 

 part of the body. Now if Eumenes placed her deli- 

 cate egg in the midst of these caterpillars, it would 

 probably suffer destruction. To prevent this happen- 

 ing, she suspends it by a delicate thread from the dome- 

 shaped covering of the nest, so that it hangs above the 

 mass of caterpillars. On hatching, the young larva 

 does not descend, but still makes use of the egg-shell as 

 its habitation, hanging down from this vantage point 

 to feed upon the caterpillars below. As the egg-shell 

 splits Up to a sort of ribbon, thus adding to the length 

 of the suspensory thread, the larva is able to reach 

 down and devour a number of caterpillars before it is 

 necessary for it to descend to the floor of the cell to get 

 at those stored beyond reach from the thread, and by 

 that time it has increased sufficiently in size and strength 

 to take no harm from any movements of the few re- 

 maining victims. 



Ammophila is a genus of Solitary Wasps having a 

 very wide distribution, and its species make vertical 

 tunnels in the ground in fact, they may be said to be 

 expert miners, excavating their miniature shafts, which 

 generally terminate in an oval chamber, with con- 

 siderable skill and dispatch, and victualling them with 

 caterpillars, which they sting in such a way as to com- 

 pletely paralyze. Monsieur Fabre, in France, has paid 

 special attention to their interesting habits, and the 

 American species have been ably watched and described 

 by Professor Peckham and his wife, from whose charm- 

 ing writings the following account has been compiled. 

 For the nest, " the spot chosen is in firm soil, some- 

 times in open ground,"but much more frequently under 



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