890 Marvels of the Universe 
of which the fe- 
male insect bores 
holes in trees, in 
each of which she 
deposits an egg. 
That is the worst 
that can be said 
of it, and to the 
timber-grower it 
is bad enough ; 
but so far as at- 
tacks upon our 
tender bodies are 
concerned, the 
Horn-tail is a per- 
fectly | harmless 
creature. The 
male, which is 
more rarely seen 
than the female, 
might be mistaken 
for a different 
species, as it lacks 
the black band 
across its body, 
and ends in quite 
a little point in- 
Only a few species of these mysterious animals are found near the shore, but many appear to stead of the EUSTON 
flourish in the deep sea. The specimens on these two pages were discovered during the Challenger and its guard. The 
Expedition. This is a small species, and has been magnified about fourteen times. It is without eyes. : 
prominent orange 
A SEA-SPIDER. 
spine which terminates the last ring of the female’s body is not really connected with the 
boring apparatus, which is some distance below it and attached to the underside much further 
forwards. The borer is hinged so that it can be used at right angles with the insect’s body. 
It is protected by a couple of yellow sheath-blades, which, when at rest, are sunk in a groove 
of the body. The borer itself will be seen between them, a hard, polished, black needle, three- 
quarters of an inch long. With this instrument, then, a hole is bored through the bark, and an 
egg deposited. 
In due course the egg hatches and a tiny white grub issues, who finds himself in a land of plenty, 
for his proper food is all around him. He sets his infant jaws to work at once, and soon has the 
beginning of a boring that he will ultimately extend far into the solid wood. How long it takes him 
to become full grown is not accurately known, owing to the secluded nature of his existence, but it 
is known to extend over several years, from the fact that after a house has been built three years, 
the perfect insects have emerged from timber used in its construction. It is presumed that, in 
these cases, the grub was in the wood when the tree was cut down, but so small that its burrows did 
not come in the way of the saw that cut the tree into planks or rafters, and that its presence, there- 
fore, was not suspected. Knowing how much agitation can be caused by the presence of an 
ordinary wasp at a tea-party, one can realize the feelings aroused in a family when a number of 
these big Horn-tails keep on appearing from holes in the nursery floor ! 
The grub feeds on, it may be presumed, leisurely and continuously. It has not got to hurry, 
