954 Marvels of the Universe 
to a group of these insects that bear a marked resemblance to a bee, so much so that even an expert 
may be for a moment deluded, and, as a result, the fly obtains a certain amount of cautious 
respect which is not entirely its due. 
But a bee has four wings, while the fly has only two, so that 
with a little care this imitation can be distinguished from the bona-fide bee. But to come back to the 
[E. Step, F.L.S. 
Photo by) 
THE FRUIT OF THE DELICIOUS MONSTER. 
Arranged like the berries of our Cuckoo-pint, but with each 
berry compressed by over-crowding into a six-sided form. 
Maggot. It can best be described as a fat, 
white grub, about an inch long, with a tail 
that may reach four inches or a trifle more, and 
the best place to find it is in a rather stagnant 
pond or stream where the water is not very 
deep and where there is plenty of mud. The 
more the mud is composed of decayed vegeta- 
tion and putrefying material, the more abundant 
and well-nourished the Maggots will be. They 
will be seen standing on their heads with their 
long tails stretched up to the surface of the 
water, not necessarily perfectly perpendicular, 
for some will curve slightly to the surface, 
and perhaps one or two could be seen crawling 
about on the bottom with the “ tail” at right 
angles to the body and still reaching up to the 
water level. Suppose a rainy season augmented 
the water in the pond ; the Maggots would still 
be found with their tails reaching to the sur- 
face, and the depth would have to be increased 
to something over six feet before the Maggots 
would be inconvenienced, and then they would 
crawl up any available object until they could 
once again protrude their tails from the water. 
And why is this? The reason is that the tail 
is a breathing-tube ; in its centre it contains 
two narrow channels by which oxygen is con- 
veyed to the owner. These channels are 
wrapped up in external tubes; the nearest is 
known as the respiratory tube. At its extremity 
are five feathered hairs, which are spread out, 
and which cling to the surface film of the 
stagnant water, and in this way help to support 
the long swaying length of tail. This tube folds 
into the channelled sheath, which is only visible 
when the tail is fully extended. Like the re- 
spiratory tube, it is channelled or furrowed, as 
is also the last section of the tail, the wrinkled 
sheath, which is further distinguished by 
tubercles bearing little tufts of minute hairs 
arranged in pairs along its length. This 
last section gradually merges into the body of 
the grub. So the Rat-tail, which to all appear- 
ance is so insignificant and repulsive a Maggot, 
is possessed of a wonderfully elaborate breathing- 
