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
entrails are nibbled gradually and methodically: first, the least
essential; next, those whose removal leaves yet a remnant of life; lastly,
those whose loss inevitably entails death, followed very soon by
putrefaction.

At the first bites we see the victim's blood oozing through the wound. It
is a highly-elaborated fluid, easy of digestion, and forms a sort of milk-