Marvels of the Universe 999 
when one is discovered by this other hunter, it does not seem to make any effort to escape, although 
a much more terrible fate is in store for it than at our hands. Our object would be to keep it 
supplied with food, so that it might com- 
plete the changes which would produce the 
perfect moth. The object of the tiny 
hunter, however, is a dinner, and that with 
little or no ceremony. It at once attacks 
the caterpillar with its little black, hard 
jaws, and soon eats a hole through the soft 
skin. It then continues to eat the internal 
parts, pushing its sinuous body in one 
direction and then in the other, till the 
whole of the poor caterpillar, except its 
now shrivelling skin, 1s consumed. 
The caterpillars of some moths and 
butterflies are horrible cannibals, and the 
entomologist wishing to rear these must 
keep them in solitary confinement. Like 
the caterpillar above described, those at- 
tacked seem to make no objections to being 
eaten alive, and remain quite still so that 
the other may enjoy his dinner at his leisure. 
The illustrations show the “ hunter” 
at rest during an interval between meals 
(page 998). Then we see it on a leaf evidently 
much eaten by a caterpillar, and with its 
head protruded out of sight. On separa- 
ting the leaves, a sight is obtained of the 
caterpillar being devoured by the maggot, 
whose head is inserted through the hole in 
the side of its passive victim (page 999). 
It would be difficult to say how many 
caterpillars are consumed by one of these 
hunters, but from its persistency and 
voracity the numbers must be considerable. 
When full growth is reached and feeding 
is over, the maggot settles down on some 
chosen spot. It becomes fastened down at 
its tail-end, which broadens out. The long 
body contracts and becomes rounded off, 
and the skin hardens (page 1000). Inside 
the skin the wonderful changes go on which 
produce from the materials of the larva 
the altogether different form of the pupa, = 1" ee 
THE CATERPILLAR-HUNTING MAGGOT. 
and then f 
the fly : , The Maggot has found a caterpillar, and here has its head inside 
When the fly 1S fully formed, it pushes the skin of its passive victim, which is being rapidly consumed. 
off the front part of the old skin, and crawls ‘F¥" times the natural size.) 
out to unfold its wings and spend the rest of its life hovering in the sunshine, sipping nectar 
from the flowers and taking its share in the duty of carrying on the race (page 1002). 
