A NATURALIST IN BRAZIL 



withies, so that while the moth can bend them aside as she creeps 

 out of the cocoon, no enemy can force its way in. 



On the leaves of the Orange-tree graze the caterpillars of the 

 handsome black Idaeus, whose hind-wings are decorated with spots 

 of strawberry red. On pupating, the larva of this butterfly grasps 

 a twig with its hind-claspers, leaving its body sloping upwards and 

 standing away from the twig; at the same time it spins a thread 

 which lies like a sling round its body and the supporting twig, so 

 that the pupa looks like a lateral shoot. Since the caterpillar binds 

 itself on to the twig before it pupates, it must know what its girth 

 will be when a pupa, and what position the pupa will assume, for 

 it has to calculate the length of the thread accordingly. We cannot 

 in this case speak of intelligent action, since there is no one in the 

 world about the caterpillar from whom it could learn its art. The 

 larva goes through the whole skilful performance once and once 

 only, without example and without practice, and yet with infallible 

 success. 



The insect's technical instructions are therefore contained in the 

 unconscious; they develop with the insect's body, and at the right 

 moment find expression in action. The insect is driven by an urge 

 so powerful that even deadly danger will not prevent it from accom- 

 plishing its work. As a Dragonfly darts to and fro above the pond, 

 choosing its prey, it takes good care not to fall into the water, for 

 there it would drown, since it can breathe only in the air. But 

 when the breeding-season comes the male and female of at least 

 one species clasp one another and climb down a reed and under the 

 surface, in order to make little incisions on the stem of the reed, 

 and lay an egg in each. For the larvae of these insects live on the 

 floor of the pond, as predatory creatures, and they are provided 

 with gills. 



In the southern portion of the South American continent there 

 is a Swimming Weevil (Hydrotimes natans), which goes under 

 water only at the mating season, in order to lay its eggs. There are, 

 moreover. Mayflies, Caddis-flies and other insects which spend 

 their youth in the water, while this element is fatal to the adult 

 insects, and is carefully avoided. But the urge of procreation forces 

 them to imperil themselves. 



Love changes a human being, and turns his soul, according to 



the nature and the object of that love, to good or to evil. And the 



animal also, when seized by the procreative urge, often becomes a 



different creature. There are insects which normally are harmless 



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