ADAPTATION FOR THE SPECIES 143 
caterpillar’s back, it punctured the skin with its sting, 
and deposited eggs within the caterpillar’s body. 
These eggs soon hatched and the little grubs worked 
their way through the body of its host. The infested 
victim feeds upon leaves and fills itself with rich food. 
These parasites eat the food, and, try as it may, the 
caterpillar does not succeed in getting fat. After the 
grubs have gotten their full growth, each of them eats 
its way through a little hole to the outside of the 
caterpillar’s body. Here it spins around itself a little 
white case, and looks like a rice grain. As the cater- 
pillar moves about, these seeming rice grains are 
rubbed off and fall to the ground. Next year there 
will come up new ichneumon flies to sting fresh cater- 
pillars and repeat the entire process. 
Another remarkable provision for the young on the 
part of insects is seen in the behavior of the big 
sphex wasp, known as the cicada killer. The cicada, 
it will be remembered, is what is commonly called a 
locust. The cicada killer is a magnificent big wasp, 
whose body is nearly an inch long, banded with black 
and yellow, while the wings are colored a smoky 
brown. This muscular wasp digs a long tunnel eight 
or ten inches deep, which ends in a slightly larger 
room. Having provided the location, he now sallies 
forth in search of the cicada. The heavy song of the 
male probably serves as a guide to the wasp in case 
