80 THE LIFE AND LOVE OF THE INSECT 



their appetite is equal to the consumption of such plenti- 

 ful provisions. What food do those pigmies need ? An 

 atom. But that atom, selected from among the exuda- 

 tions, must be hunted amid the fragments of the masti- 

 cated fodder. Hence, an endless division and subdivision 

 of the lump, reducing it to crumbs which the sun sterilizes 

 and the wind dispels. As soon as the work is done — ■ 

 and very well done — the troop of scavengers goes in 

 search of another refuse-yard. Outside the period of 

 intense cold, which puts a stop to all activity, they 

 know no dead season. 



And do not run away with the idea that this filthy task 

 entails an inelegant shape and a ragged dress. The 

 insect knows none of our squalor. In its world, a navvy 

 dons a sumptuous jerkin ; an undertaker decks himself 

 in a triple saffron sash ; a wood-cutter works in a velvet 

 coat. In like manner, the Onthophagus has his own 

 luxury. True, the costume is always severe : brown and 

 black are the predominant colours, now dull, now polished 

 as ebony ; but, on this background, what details of sober 

 and graceful ornament ! The graver's work completes 

 the beauty of the dress. Tiny chasings in parallel grooves, 

 gnarly beads, dainty rows of knobs, seed-plots of pearly 

 papillae are distributed in profusion among nearly all of 

 them. Yes, the little Onthophagi, with their stunted 

 bodies and their nimble activity, are really pretty to 

 look at. 



And then how original are their frontal decorations ! 

 These peace-lovers delight in the panoply of war, as 

 though they, the inoffensive ones, thirsted for battle. 

 Many of them crown their heads with threatening horns. 

 Let us mention that horned one whose story will 

 occupy us more particularly. I mean Onthophagus 



