The Cetoniae 



These others are Wasps, Polistes,^ hot- 

 tempered swashbucklers. When these intol- 

 erant creatures are abroad, peaceful insects 

 withdraw and establish themselves else- 

 where. Even the Hive-Bee, predominating 

 in numbers and ever ready to unsheathe her 

 sting, makes way for them, busy as she is 

 gathering in the harvest. 



These thick-set, richly variegated Moths 

 are Sesiae, with wings not dusted with scales 

 throughout. The bare zones, like so much 

 transparent gauze, contrast with the covered 

 zones and are an added beauty. The sober 

 sets off the magnificent. 



Here is a crazy swarm, eddying, receding, 

 returning, rising and falling. It is the ballet 

 of the common Butterfly-folk, the Cabbage 

 Butterflies,- all white, with black, eye-shaped 

 dots. They flirt in mid-air, pursuing and 

 pressing their attentions on one another, un- 

 til, weary of frolic, now one, now another 

 of the dancers alights once more upon the 



1 Cf. The Hunting Wasps, by J. Henri Fabre, trans- 

 lated by Alexander Teixeira de Mattos: chap. vii. ; and 

 The Mason-lVasps, by J. Henri Fabre, translated by 

 Alexander Teixeira de Mattos: chaps, ix and x. — Trans- 

 lator's Note. 



2 Cf. The Life of the Caterpillar, by J. Henri Fabre, 

 translated by Alexander Teixeira de Mattos: chap. xiv. — 

 Translator's Note. 



3 



