THE ADVENTURES OF A GRUB 



Their hurried movements and untiring energy showed 

 they were in search of something, and the natural 

 thing for them to seek was food. For these grubs were 

 hatched at the end of September, and since then, that is 

 to say for seven long months, they had taken no nourish- 

 ment, although they were by no means in a state of 

 torpor. From the moment of their hatching they are 

 doomed, though full of life, to an absolute fast lasting 

 for seven months; and when I saw their excitement I 

 naturally supposed that an imperious hunger had set 

 them bustling in that fashion. 



The food they desired could only be the contents of 

 the Anthophora's cells, since at a later stage the Sitaris 

 is found in those cells. Now these contents are limited 

 to honey and Bee-grubs. 



I offered them some cells containing larvae: I even 

 slipped the Sitares into the cells, and did all sorts of 

 things to tempt their appetite. My efforts were fruit- 

 less. Then I tried honey. In hunting for cells pro- 

 visioned with honey I lost a good part of the month of 

 May. Having found them I removed the Bee-grub 

 from some of them, and laid the Sitaris-grub on the 

 surface of the honey. Never did experiment break 

 down so completely! Far from eating the honey, the 

 grubs became entangled in the sticky mass and perished 

 in it, suffocated. "I have offered you larvae, cells, 



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