| In the early years of this century, I was an intern at the American Museum of Natural History in the Invertebrate Biology laboratory. In addition to guided tours (which I still occasionally host), I specialized in the classification of Bolivian hymenoptera, the wildly diverse and important group of insects that includes wasps, bees, and ants. Of particular interest to me were the Ichneumonidae, known for their parasitic behavior, which includes the deposition of eggs within various unsuspecting larvae. This horrifying activity led many — among them a young Charles Darwin — to question the existence of a benevolent God (see below). Thus, this lowly insect stands alongside Voltaire and company as a gadfly to the Church. |
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| “With respect to the theological view of the question. This is always painful to me. I am bewildered. I had no intention to write atheistically. But I own that I cannot see as plainly as others do, and as I should wish to do, evidence of design and beneficence on all sides of us. There seems to me too much misery in the world. I cannot persuade myself that a beneficent and omnipotent God would have designedly created the Ichneumonidae with the express intention of their feeding within the living bodies of Caterpillars, or that a cat should play with mice.” – Life and Letters of Charles Darwin, vol II, pg 49 |
