River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1888-11-01
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thcIl- 80: they are not deed
Fabl'c. Frsn,l eltomologist. who
spen: years in -sIdying thes. insects,
found that after month and half
these strong grasshOppers are still
fresh and their limbs are flexible. Nay!
for more than a fortnight their an
tenn1 and legs may often be seen to
move
Paralyzed throughout and thrown
into profound uncOnsciOusness. Yet the
prey Is living still. so that the larva
from the time when il first comes out
Of the egg. till its last meal before it
spins its cocoon, has fresh and living
meat prepared for its table.
Here Is indeed a marvel and By
initiating it NJ. Fabre found out how it
Is done. BY taking a metal pen, with
ammonia upon it. making a corrosive
liquid. and pricking the grasshOpper
in the three spots chosen by the Sphex
for her sting, he was able to paralyze
the insect "a she had done.
For this clever little insect stings ex-
actly in the three places where under
the grasshopper's body are gathered
the centers of nerve matter from which
the nerves spring. In this way she
completely disables her victim, while
her stabs are just of the right strength
to paralyze but not to kill NJ. Fabre
found that if the operation was care
lessly performed. the insect died, vet
50 far as he could discover. no Sphex
ever by mistake kills her prey.
One more fact. and our wonder at the
skill and instinct Of these creatures
reaches its height The Sphcr Lam
gUeaOcieH, which is rather larger than
the yellow-winged Sphex of which we
have been speaking, kills a good-sized
locust for her grub, and stores only one
in each cell. Now as this victim is
very large compared To herself she can
not fly With it, so she catches it first,
and afterwards excavates her chamber
near. Then she has to drag him into
Il by his antenna, and as he is large
and strong, his legs and mandibles still
moving after he is stung are very dan
gerOus TO her.
Yet probably if she stung him moer
he might die. for this is not how she
gets out Of the difficulty Getting
astride him, she presses his neck till
the joints open, and then with firm
stroke Of her mandibles she presses
upon the collar Of nerve matter collect
ed round the throat.
Ina an instant her prey becomes quiet.
she has stunned the locust. and pro-
duced the same Effect "a blow on the
brain does To- a man, and this lasts for
some time. But il does not kill. nor
even permanently injure the nerve
ganglia, for VI. Fabve found that after
ward, when in the cell. the locust had
recovered from the pressure, and his
limos and mandibles moved as before,
Now we might imagine that all this
movement would be dangerous to the
young and tender grub, and SO il would
il the careful mother had not placed
the egg upon the lOcust's thorax exact
y where 10 movement can touch il.
and so when the grub is Matched it eats
At ease upon the spot most paralyzed |
until il has gained strength.
Nor i it only the grub which profits
by this arrangement. Much as we
might admire the cleverness of these
sand-wasps in keeping their prey alive,
yet il would be very horrible il we
could suppose that the grasshOpper Or
the locust were suffering lingering tor
lures. But, ON the contrary. the very
parts attacked and paralyzed are the
nerves, the parts that feel, and just a
for the time deadened, /
50 that though he may struggle under
the hands of the surgeon yet he knows
nothing of it. so the grasshOpper, /
feebly moving his legs. can not be sup /
posed to feel the bite of his destroyer, |
who begins his meal upon that very !
part most strongly paralyzed and as
ne feeds destroys still more surely the I
power of suffering.
Such i the history OF the meat-pre- |
serving sand-wasps, and yet it is not |
half told. For the Sphex is only one |
INNING - " uotc SioAp VI tiicSt iHStttof I
some of which feed on caterpillars, |
some on flies. bees. spiders or beetles, |
and each and all of these know how 1
best 10 paralvze their prey.
The beautiful Cerceris. which feeds /
upon weevils and on some lovely rich |
,olored metallic beetles called Bupres- |
ties. attacks her prey quite differently 1
from the Sphex. For the quiet, pass 1
i've beetle does not need to be attacked |
in a rush like the. nimble grasshopper;
he trusts to his solid armOr to protect |
him. Yet the Cerceris has found out |
the weak joints.
Coming face to face with him. she |
scizes him by the snOut and pins him |
down, and as he cramps up his legs /
with fright she presses his back strong |
" with her fOrelegs so as to make the
rings cape under his body. and turning 1
her sting under gives one aud only one
blow between the first aud second pair |
Of legs, and from that moment the |
beetle moves no more.
Why then only one blow? Because
in these beetles the nervous centers are
all gathered together in this one spot. |
aud a. the Sphex has learnt where to |
plant her three blows, the Cereris knows I
where 10 strike her one deadly stab. 1
leaving Us in bewildering wonder at in
,tinci~ which have become So true. so |
lncrring. that not even a drop of poison I
j. wasted in providing Living meat for /
insect IarJIecS. - Youths Companion.
TtMES AAn CHANGED