ICHNEUMOIT. 497 



ed with a wimble, attached to her abdomen ; and with 

 this inftrument, though delicate, fhe is capable of pierc- 

 ing through lime and plafter. The larvae of wafps and 

 mafon-bees are the devoted prey of this fpecies, which no 

 fooner efpies one of their nells, than with its wimble it 

 perforates the mortar of which it is conftrufted. This 

 operation, which is performed with lingular dexterity, is 

 no fooner finillied, than it depolits its eggs in the inlide, 

 to the number of one, two, and fometimes more. Some 

 are contented with gluing their ova to the Ikin of a 

 caterpillar, while others penetrate through it, and depofit 

 the egg in its body f . The ova hatched within the cater- 

 pillar, after being quickened into life, preys upon the In- 

 teflines of that animal, without, however-, deflroying 

 its vitals. Upon the life of the one animal that of the 

 other feems to depend; and the ichneumon fpares the 

 caterpillar upon which it feeds, till It is about to enter 

 into its chryfalis ftate. In the mean time, the caterpillar 

 in which it is enclofed is apparently healthy, and pre- 

 pares to undergo the fame transformation ; a fuudion 

 which it is feldom able to accompllfh, becaufe the interi- 

 or parts effential to the butterfly, though not to the 

 worm, are deftroyed J. Often thefe caterpillars, which 

 have been the cradle of thirty or forty ichneumons, are 

 feen fixed to the bark of a tree, as if they were littino* 

 upon their eggs ; and It is difcovered that the larvae 

 which were within their bodies havo fpun their threads, 

 with which, as with cords, the unhappy caterpillar h^s 

 been faftened down, and psrifhed miferably. 



The eggs of the Ichneumons which have been limply 

 agglutinated to the outlide of the laT\se, remain not long 



Vol. III. 3 R in 



.| Reaumur, Tome II. Mcu. xi. | Idcai, Tp.ii. II. Pref, 



