14 INSECT LIFE i 



recommended by M. Blanchard ; I may claim to have 

 spent long days in the intimacy of Scarabseus sacer ; 

 I have tried every means to comprehend its manners 

 and customs, and to study them from life, and never 

 did I see anything which suggested that one had 

 called its companions to its aid. As I shall presently 

 relate, I have put the dung-beetle to proofs far more 

 serious than that of a ball fallen into a hole, and 

 into far graver difficulties than having to climb a 

 slope — a thing which is mere sport for the obstinate 

 Sisyphus, who seems to enjoy the rough gymnastics 

 required by steep places, as if the ball grew thereby 

 firmer, and therefore more valuable. I have invented 

 situations where the insect had extreme need of help, 

 and never could I detect any proof of good offices be- 

 tween comrades. I have seen pillaged and pillagers, 

 and nothing else. If a number of beetles surrounded 

 the same ball, it meant battle. My humble opinion 

 is that several Scarabaei gathered round a pellet 

 with intent to thieve was what gave rise to these 

 stories of comrades called in to give a helping hand. 

 Incomplete observations have turned an audacious 

 robber into a serviceable companion who put his own 

 work aside to do a friendly turn. It is no slight 

 thing to admit that an insect has a truly surprising 

 grasp of the situation and a facility of communica- 

 tion between individuals more surprising still ; there- 

 fore I insist on this point. Are we to suppose that a 

 Scarabaeus in distress conceives the idea of begging 

 for help ? — flies off, explores the country round to 

 find comrades at work on a dropping, and having 

 found them, by some pantomime, especially by 

 movements of the antennae, addresses them more 



