ICHNEUMON. 
497 
ed with a wimble, attached to her abdomen ; and with 
this inftrument, though delicate, fhe is capable of pierc- 
ing through lime and plafter. The larvae of wafps and 
mafon-bees are the devoted prey of this fpecies, which no 
fooner el'pies one of their nells, than with its wimble it 
perforates the mortar of which it is conftru&ed. This 
operation, which is performed with lingular dexterity, is 
no fooner finiihed, than it depofits its eggs in the infide, 
to the number of one, two, and fometnijes more. Some 
are contented with gluing their ova to the (kin of a 
caterpillar, while others penetrate through it, and depofit 
the egg m its body f . The ova hatched within the cater- 
pillar, alter being quickened into life, preys upon the in- 
teflines of that animal, without, however, deftroying 
its vitals. Upon the life of the one animal that of the 
other feems to depend; and the ichneumon fpares the 
caterpillar upon which it feeds, till it is about to enter 
into its cliryfaiis Hate. In the mean time, the caterpillar 
in which it is enclofed is apparently healthy, and pre- 
pares to undergo the fame transformation ; a fuudion 
which it is feldom able to accomplifh, becaufe the interi- 
or parts effentiai to the butterfly, though not to the 
worm, are destroyed J. Often thefe caterpillars, which 
have been the cradle of thirty or forty ichneumons, are 
feen fixed to the bark of a tree, as if they were fitting 
upon their eggs ; and it is difcovered that the larva? 
which were within their bodies have fpun their threads, 
with which, as with cords, the unhappy caterpillar has 
been faftened down, and perilhed mifcrably. 
The eggs of the ichneumons which have been limply 
agglutinated to the outfide of the larvae, remain not long 
Vol. III. 3 R ir > 
f Reaumur, Tome II. Mem. xi. t Idem J Tom ' Iir 
