108 SOCIAL LIFE IN THE INSECT WORLD 



simultaneously. In less than fifteen minutes the flock 

 is completely exterminated. Nothing remains but a few 

 shapeless fragments, which are carried hither and thither, 

 to be consumed at leisure under the shelter of the wooden 

 board. One well-fed beetle decamps, his booty in his 

 jaws, hoping to finish his feast in peace. He is met by 

 companions who are attracted by the morsel hanging 

 from the mandibles of the fugitive, and audaciously 

 attempt to rob him. First two, then three, they all 

 endeavour to deprive the legitimate owner of his prize. 

 Each seizes the fragment, tugs at it, commences to swallow 

 it without further ado. There is no actual battle ; no 

 violent assaults, as in the case of dogs disputing a bone. 

 Their efforts are confined to the attempted theft. If the 

 legitimate owner retains his hold they consume his booty 

 in common, mandibles to mandibles, until the fragment 

 is torn or bitten through, and each retires with his 

 mouthful. 



As I found to my cost in bygone experiments, the 

 pine-caterpillar wields a violently corrosive poison, which 

 produces a painful rash upon the hands. It must there- 

 fore, one would think, form a somewhat highly seasoned 

 diet. The beetles, however, delight in it. No matter how 

 many flocks I provide them with, they are all consumed. 

 But no one, that I know of, has ever found the Golden 

 Gardener and its larva in the silken cocoons of the 

 Bombyx. I do not expect ever to make such a dis- 

 covery. These cocoons are inhabited only in winter, 

 when the Gardener is indifferent to food, and lies 

 torpid in the earth. In April, however, when the pro- 

 cessions of larvae are seeking a suitable site for burial 

 and metamorphosis, the Gardener should profit largely 



