te.), whence follows that its bulk is six or seven
hundred times as great as that of the newly-hatched grub of the
Scolia. Here certainly is a quarry which, were it active and capable of
wriggling and biting, would expose the nurseling to terrible attacks.
The danger has been averted by the mother's stiletto; and the fragile
grub attacks the monster's paunch with as little hesitation as though it
were sucking the breast.

Day by day the young Scolia's head penetrates farther into the Cetonia's
belly. To pass through the narrow orifice made in the skin, the
fore-part of the body contracts and lengthens out, as though drawn
through a die-plate. The larva thus assumes a rather strange form. Its
hinder half, which is constantly outside the victim's belly, has the
shape and fulness usual in the larvae of the Digger-wasps, whereas the
front half, which, once it has dived under the skin of the exploited
victim, does not come out again until the time arrives for spinning the
cocoon, tapers off suddenly into a snake-like neck. This front part is
moulded, so to speak, by the narrow entrance-hole made in the skin and
henceforth retains its slender formation. As a matter of fact, a
similar configuration recurs, in varying degrees, in the larvae of the
Digger-wasps whose ration consists of a bulky quarry which takes a
long time to consume. These include the Languedocian Sphex, with her
Ephippiger, and the Hairy Ammophila, with her Grey Worm. There is none
of this sudden constriction, dividing the creature into two disparate
halves, when the victuals consist of numerous and comparatively small
items. The larva then retains its usual shape, being obliged to pass, at
brief intervals, from one joint in its larder to the next.

From the first bite of the mandibles, until the whole head of game is
consumed, the Scolia-larva is never seen to withdraw its head and its
long neck from inside the creature which it is devouring. I suspect the
reason of this persistence in attacking a single point; I even seem
to perceive the need for a special art in the manner of eating. The
Cetonia-larva is a square meal in itself, one large dish, which has to
retain a suitable freshness until the end. The young Scolia, therefore,
must attack with discretion, at the unvarying point chosen by the mother
on the ventral surface, for the entrance-hole is at the exact point
where the egg was fixed. As the nurseling's neck lengthens and dives
deeper, the victim's