"Where does it put its eggs, Uncle Philip?"
Ovipositor and Eggs of the Crane-fly.
"In the earth, boys; and to enable the insect to do this, the female has the pincers I spoke of: they are made of something like horn, and are sharp at the point. With these she first bores a hole in the ground, and then puts the egg in. The egg is like a grain of gunpowder, and she puts herself in a very curious posture to bore the hole. Here, boys, you may see a picture of the pincers as they appear through a microscope, for they are not near as large as the picture. And here is a drawing of one boring."
Crane-fly ovipositing, and the larva beneath, in the earth, feeding upon grass roots.
"What good pincers those are, Uncle Philip: but will you tell us one thing which we wish to know? Talking about the crane-fly has put me in mind of it: the other day we were sitting together in school, and the wall over our heads was covered with common flies; and when we came out, we were talking about the way in which the fly stuck to the wall without falling down; and as we could not tell what kept him up, we agreed to ask you about it."
"I will tell you, boys, very willingly. I do not wonder that you were unable to tell how the fly stuck to the wall; for you never tried to find out, and therefore could only guess at it."