AFFECTION OF INSECTS FOR THEIR YOUNG. 195 
arteries, lungs, and intestines, — should we not regard such an instance 
as a perfect prodigy, as an example of instinctive forbearance almost 
miraculous ? 
Some Ichneumons, instead of burying their eggs in the body of the 
larvee that are to serve their young for food, content themselves with 
gluing them to the skin of their prey. This is the case with Scolia fla- 
vifrons, which my learned entomological friend M. Passerini of Florence 
has found places its eggs on the larva of a large beetle (Oryctes nasicornis), 
upon which when hatched the larya of the Scolia feeds, by introducing the 
three first segments of its body into the belly of its victim, always between 
the sixth and seventh Segment, so that this insect is a semi-internal 
parasite. Another tribe, whose activity and perseverance are equally 
conspicuous, which includes the beautiful genus Chrysis and many other 
hymenopterous and dipterous insects, imitating the insidious cuckoo, 
contrive to introduce their eggs into the nests in which bees and other 
insects have deposited theirs, With this view they are constantly on the 
watch, and the moment the unsuspecting mother has quitted her cell for 
the purpose of collecting a store of food or materials, glide into it and 
leave an egg, the germ of a future assassin of the larva that is to spring 
from that deposited by its side. 
The females of the insects of which we have been speaking, in pro- 
viding for their offspring, are sayed the trouble of furnishing them witk 
any habitation, Either they occupy that of another insect, or find a con 
venient abode within the body of that on which they feed. But upon the 
maternal affection of another large hymenopterous tribe, belonging to 
latreille’s Family of Burrowers (Fossores), whose young in like manner 
feed on other insects, is imposed the arduous task not merely of collecting 
a supply of food, but of inclosing it along with their eggs in cells or 
burrows often of considerable depth, and. dug with great labour in sand, 
wood, or the solid earth. 
The general economy of these insects is similar. Having first dug a 
cylindrical cavity of the requisite dimensions, and deposited an egg at the 
bottom, they inclosé along with it one or more caterpillars, spiders, or other 
insects, each particular species for the most part selecting a distinct kind, 
as a provision forthe young one when hatched, and sufficiently abundant 
to nourish it until it becomes’ pupa. Many thus furnish several cells. 
This process, however, is varied by different Species, some of whose 
Operations are worthy of a more detailed description. 
_One of the most early histories of the procedure of an insect of this 
kind, probably the common sand-wasp (Ammophila vulgaris), is left us by 
the excellent Ray, who observed it along with his friend Willoughby. On 
the 22nd of June, 1667, he ‘tells us, they noticed this insect dragging a 
green caterpillar thrice as big as itself, which, after thus conveying about 
fifteen feet, it deposited at the entrance of a hole previously dug in the 
sand, Then removing a pellet of earth from its mouth, it descended into 
the cavity, and, presently returning, dragged along with it the caterpillar. 
After staying awhile it again ascended, then rolled pieces of earth into 
the hole, at intervals scratching the dust into it like a dog with its fore 
feet, and entering it as if to press down and consolidate the mass, flying also 
' Osservazioni sulle La Ni . (Pise, 1840), Guérin-Méneville, Revue 
Zoolog. 1841, pe 240 er ten Me Het ses F810) 
02 
