214 
TRANSFORMATIONS OF INSECTS. 
which produces a lethargy, which lasts a long time, and, in fact, 
the wounded insect never recovers perfectly. There is thus a 
most interesting series of phenomena of a most remarkable 
character. The larvae of these Hymenoptera imperatively require 
nourishment, which can only be derived from living tissues ; they 
would die close to a dead body, or if they were placed upon an 
animal which was decomposing, or which had become dry. Thus 
these larvae which have no offensive weapons, and which cannot 
move from place to place, come at last to gnaw and feed upon 
living insects which cannot do them the least harm. The diffi- 
culties which are required to be overcome in order that all this 
can be consummated would be insurmountable were it not for the 
bountiful providence of Nature, which causes them to disappear 
as if by enchantment. These larvae have nothing to fear from 
their victims, which have been rendered inert by a proper dose 
of the venom of the female insect ; they cannot offer the least 
resistance to any sort of attack, and, condemned to be slowly 
eaten, they nevertheless live until a large portion of their sub- 
stance has been consumed. Death can hardly be said to take 
place until the larva has had enough, and has reached its full 
growth. The poison of the sting seems to act upon the tissues 
as a preservative, and caterpillars and the larvae of beetles which 
have been stung by Hymenoptera may be kept for several months 
in pill boxes without showing any alteration, and without under- 
going death or decomposition. It is to be hoped that the same 
Providence that feeds the larvae in this extraordinary manner 
gives the venom a power of subduing pain ; if not, Providence 
is certainly on the side of the Hymenoptera , and a more dreadful 
fate than that of the living death of the poisoned insects can 
hardly be imagined. 
As soon as one of these fossorial Hymenoptera has collected a 
stock of provisions within its cell, it lays an egg inside and closes 
the opening with a portion of the rubbish of the excavation, and 
alters the outside appearance of the work so completely, and makes 
it look so much like the neighbouring surfaces, that it is very 
difficult even for intelligent collectors to find out the nests. The 
female constructs a great number of these cellular nests ; some- 
times they are close to each other, and at others they are widely 
