146 SOCIAL LIFE IN THE INSECT WORLD 



before, both share the work ; the hewing and shaping, 

 the transport, and the burial in ensilage. 



This conjugal fidelity is delightful ; but is it really the 

 rule ? I should not dare to affirm that it is. There must 

 be flighty individuals who, in the confusion under a 

 large cake of droppings, forget the fair confectioners for 

 whom they have worked as journeymen, and devote 

 themselves to the services of others, encountered by 

 chance ; there must be temporary unions, and divorces 

 after the burial of a single pellet. No matter : fhe little 

 I myself have seen gives me a high opinion of the 

 domestic morals of the Sisyphus. 



Let us consider these domestic habits a little further 

 before coming to the contents of the burrow. The 

 father works fully as hard as the mother at the extraction 

 and modelling of the pellet which is destined to be 

 the inheritance of a larva ; he shares in the work of 

 transport, even if he plays a secondary part ; he watches 

 over the pellet when the mother is absent, seeking for 

 a suitable site for the excavation of the cellar ; he 

 helps in the work of digging ; he carries away the 

 rubbish from the burrow ; finally, to crown all these 

 qualities, he is in a great measure faithful to his spouse. 



The Scarabaeus exhibits some of these characteristics. 

 He also assists his spouse in the preparation of pellets 

 of dung ; he also assists her to transport the pellets, the 

 pair facing each other and the female going backwards. 

 But as I have stated already, the motive of this mutual 

 service is selfish ; the two partners labour only for their 

 own good. The feast is for themselves alone. In the 

 labours that concern the family the female Scarabasus 

 receives no assistance. Alone she moulds her sphere, 



