AFFECTION OF INSECTS FOR THEIR YOUNG. 237 



slender snout with which theii* head is provided. It is with this that 

 Balaninus Nucurn pierces the shell of the nut, and the weevil (^Calandra 

 granaria) the skin of the grains of wheat, in which they respectively 

 deposit their eggs, prudently introducing one only into each nut or grain, 

 which is sufficient, but no more than sufficient, for the nourishment of the 

 grub that will inhabit it. 



11. Hitherto I have adverted to those insects only which perish before 

 their young come into existence, and can therefore evince their affection 

 for them in no other way than by placing the eg|s whence they are to 

 spring in secure situations stored with food, and these include by far the 

 largest portion of the race. A very considerable number, however, extend 

 their cares much further : they not only watch over their eggs after depos- 

 iting them, but attend upon their young when excluded, with an affectionate 

 assiduity equal to any thing exhibited amongst the larger animals, and in 

 the highest degree interesting. Of this description are some solitary 

 insects, as several species of the Linnean genus Sphex, earwigs, field-bugs, 

 and spiders : and those insects which live in societies, namely, ants, bees, 

 wasps, and termites : the most striking traits of whose history in these 

 respects I shall endeavor to lay before you. 



You have seen that the greater number of the Sphecina, after depositing 

 their eggs in cells stored with a supply of food, take no further care of 

 them. Some, however, adopt a different procedure. One of these, 

 called by Bonnet the Mason-wasp but different from Reaumur's, not only 

 incloses a living caterpillar along with its eggs in the cell, which it carefully 

 closes, but at the expiration of a few days, when the young grub has 

 appeared and has consumed its provision, re-opens the nest, incloses a 

 second caterpillar, and again shuts the mouth : and this operation it repeats 

 until the young one has attained its full growth.^ A similar mode, accord- 

 ing to Rolander, is followed by Ammophila vulgaris, as well as by the 

 yellowish wasp of Pennsylvania, described by Bartram in the Philosophical 

 Transactions^, and by another related to Mellinus arvensis, observed by 

 DuhameP ; both of which, however, instead of caterpillars, supply their 

 larvae with a periodical provision of living flies. 



What a crowd of interesting reflections are these most singular facts 

 calculated to excite ! With what foresight must the parent insect be 

 endowed, thus to be aware at what period her eggs will be hatched into 

 grubs, and how long the provision she has laid up will suffice for their 

 support ! What an extent of judgment, thus, in the midst of various other 

 occupations, to know the precise day when a repetition of her cares will 

 be required ! What an accuracy of memory, to recollect with such pre- 

 cision the entrance to her cell, which the most acute eye could not dis- 

 cover ; and without compass or direction unerringly to fly to it, often from 

 a great distance, and after the most intricate and varied wanderings ! If 

 we refer the whole to instinct, and to instinct doubtless it must in the 

 main if not wholly be referred, our admiration is not lessened. Instinct, 

 when simple and directed to one object, is less astonishing ; but such a 

 complication of instincts, applied to actions so varied and dissimilar, is 

 beyond our conception. We can but wonder and adore ! 



1 Bonnet, is. 398. . « liii. 37. Pelopaus spirifex ? ^ Reaum. vi. 269. 



