108 The Study of Animal Life part i 



and offspring, but we are in search of cases where the 

 parent acts as if she cared for her young. 



But this care, as we said, begins very gradually. Thus, 

 in some lowly crustaceans the young may return to the 

 brood - chamber of the mother, even after hatching and 

 moulting ; and young crayfish are said to return to the 

 shelter of the maternal tail after they have been set adrift. 

 Strange, too, are the males of some sea-spiders (Pycno- 

 gonida), who carry about the ova on their legs. It is con- 

 fidently stated that the headless freshwater mussel keeps 

 the embryos imprisoned even after the normal period, 

 until some freshwater fish be present, to which they may 

 attach themselves ; while some cuttle-fishes are said to exert 

 themselves in keeping their egg-clusters clean and safe. 



But it is among insects, with their full, free life, that we 

 see the best examples of parental care in backboneless 

 animals. Some scoff at the " beetle-pricker " or the scara- 

 beist, — and such genial laughter as that of the Professor at 

 the Breakfast Table has a healthy resonance, — but those 

 who scoff have not read Kirby's Letters, else they would 

 feel that the student of insects watches at a well-head of 

 romance and marvel inexhaustibly fresh. What, for 

 instance, shall we say of the worker-bees, who, though no 

 parents, tend and nurse the grubs with constant care ; or of 

 the likewise sexless worker-ants, whose first endeavour 

 when the nest is disturbed is to save, not themselves, but 

 the young ; or of the care that flies, moths, and other 

 insects will take to lay their eggs in substances and situa- 

 tions best fitted for the future young ? We must think back 

 into the past history of climatic and other conditions if 

 we would understand the frequently elaborate provision 

 which mother insects make for offspring which they never 

 see ; the ancestors had probably a longer life, and had the 

 gratification of seeing the result of their labours, and now 

 the inherited habit works on, perhaps' with no vision of 

 the future. We must also allow that the offspring mis- 

 takenly deposited by an imperfect maternal instinct would 

 most likely die, and thus leave the race more select. But 

 after thinking out these explanations, the facts remain mar- 



