United States or Ireland ? Vote for the TOP Country of the Week !
Does not this remnant of tenacious vitality in itself show that the organs of primary importance are the last to be attacked? Does it not prove that there is a progressive dismemberment passing from the less essential to the indispensable? Would you like to see what becomes of a Cetonia-larva when the organism is wounded in its vital centres at the very beginning?
It is possible that the larva will prosper, complete its development and spin its cocoon; it is also possible and the case is not unusual that the Cetonia-larva will soon turn brown and putrid. We then see the Scolia itself turn brown, distended as it is with putrescent foodstuffs, and then cease all movement, without attempting to withdraw from the sanies.
Whereas the other Hunting Wasps prepare a dwelling to which the provisions are carried, sometimes from a distance, the Scolia confines herself to digging her bed of leaf-mould until she comes upon a Cetonia-larva. When she finds a quarry, she stabs it on the spot, in order to immobilize it; and, again on the spot, she lays an egg on the ventral surface of the paralysed creature. That is all.
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.
Unable to move, to wriggle, to scratch with its legs or snap with its mandibles, the Cetonia-larva, a new Prometheus bound, offers its defenceless flanks to the little Vulture destined to devour its entrails. Without too much hesitation, the young Scolia settles down to the wound made by my scalpel, which to the grub represents the wound whence I have just removed it.
For three or four days my charges feed upon this game, so novel to them, without any sign of repugnance or hesitation. By the fluctuations of the digestive canal I perceive that the work of nutrition is proceeding as it should; things are happening just as if the dish were a Cetonia-larva. The change of diet, complete though it is, has in no way affected the appetite of the Scolia-grubs.
If direct observation did not already to some degree confirm it, a mere examination of the half-eaten larva would do so in the most positive fashion. The Cetonia-larva is at first a plump grub. Drained by the Scolia's tooth, it gradually becomes limp and wrinkled. In a few days' time it resembles a shrivelled bit of bacon-fat and then a bag whose two sides have fallen in.
In my uncertainty, I try again. This time I shall not interfere, so that my clumsiness cannot be to blame. As I described when speaking of the Cetonia-larva, the Oryctes-larva now lies bound, quite alive, on a strip of cork. As usual, I make a small opening in the belly, to entice the grub by means of a bleeding wound and facilitate its access. I obtain the same negative result.
It would be absurd to give such an idea a moment's consideration. Its refusal is dictated by a preordained decree which it is bound to obey. My Scolia-grubs would die of starvation if I left them on their victim's back. I therefore restore matters as they were, with the Cetonia-larva belly uppermost and the young Scolia on top.
I succeed, by means of a little patience and repeated strokes with the tip of a paint-brush. I now turn the Cetonia-larva over, back uppermost, at the bottom of the little hollow made by pressing my finger in the layer of mould. Lastly, I place the Scolia on its victim's back.
Word Of The Day