1. The anthrenæ[178] and wasps form cells for their progeny when they
have no rulers, but are wandering about in search of them, the anthrenæ
upon some high place, the wasps in holes. But when they have the rulers
they form their cells underground. All their cells are hexagonal, like
those of bees; they are not formed of wax, but of a web-like membrane,
made of the bark of trees. The cells of the anthrenæ are far more
elegant than those of wasps. Upon the side of their cells they place
their progeny, in the manner of the bees, like a drop of liquid united
to the wall of the cell. The progeny in all the cells is not alike, but
in some they are so large as to be almost ready for flight, in others
are nymphæ, in others grubs.
[178] Hornet, Apis terrestris.
2. The only excrementitious matter is found in the cells of the
grubs, as in the case of bees. As long as they are nymphæ they remain
motionless, and the cell is sealed over, and on the other side of the
cell which contains their progeny, there is a drop of honey in the
combs of the anthrenæ. The grubs of these creatures are produced in the
autumn, not in the spring, but they evidently grow most rapidly at the
full moon. The progeny and the grubs are not united to the bottom, but
to the side of the cell.
CHAPTER XXI.
1. Some of the bombycia[179] form an angular cell of mud, which
they attach to a stone or something else, and smear with a kind of
transparent substance; this is so very thick and hard, that it can
scarcely be broken with the blow of a spear. In this they deposit their
ova, and the white maggots are contained in a black membrane; and wax
is formed in the mud without any membrane, this wax is much more yellow
than that of bees.
[179] Apis cementaria.
2. The ants also have sexual intercourse, and produce maggots which
they do not attach to anything. As these grow, they change from
small round things to long articulated beings. The season for their
production is in the spring.
3. The land-scorpions also bring forth many egg-like maggots, upon
which they incubate. When the young ones are perfect, they drive out
and destroy their parents like spiders, for they are frequently eleven
in number.
CHAPTER XXII.
1. The arachnia copulate in the manner already described, and produce
maggots which at first are small. After their metamorphosis they
become spiders, not from a part but from the whole of the maggot,
for they are round from the first. When the female has produced her
ova, she incubates upon them, in three days they acquire limbs. All
of them produce their young in a web, which is thin and small in some
species, but compact in others. Some are enclosed entirely in a round
receptacle, and others are only partially covered by the web. All
the young spiders are not produced at once, but as soon as they are
hatched they leap out and shoot forth a web. If they are bruised they
are found to contain a thick white fluid like that of maggots.