36/37 As far as the perforating beak can plunge, so far the oviscapt, the interior rostrum, will reach. When working upon her acorn the female chooses the point of attack so that the two complementary instruments can each of them reach the desired point at the base of the acorn. The work of drilling completed, the gallery ready, the mother turns and places the tip of the abdomen against the orifice. She extrudes the internal mechanism, which easily passes through the loose debris of the boring. No sign of the probe appears, so quickly and discreetly does it work; nor is any trace of it to be seen when, the egg having been properly deposited, the implement ascends and returns to the abdomen. |