Thus when, as eye-witnesses report, young scorpions clinging to their mother devour her alive, scientifically avoiding as long as possible all vital parts and mortal wounds-we are inclined to consider them monsters of wickedness, and their parent as a model of motherly devotion, whose sufferings cannot be less horrible than those of a caterpillar similarly eaten by the ichneumon grub.
"The Old Riddle and the Newest Answer"
John Gerard
Even the tiny egg of a butterfly has its ichneumon parasite, a microscopic wasp, which lays its own egg within the larger one, which ultimately hatches a wasp instead of the baby caterpillar.
"My Studio Neighbors"
William Hamilton Gibson
Prick up your ears, you little ichneumon-now once more repeat what you are to say in there-do you see where I am pointing with my finger?
"The Complete Historical Romances of Georg Ebers"
Georg Ebers