More Beetles 



magnificently audacious in this posture of at- 

 tack and defence. This above all is the 

 best moment for recognizing the great ad- 

 vantage of the pivot at the tail. Though 

 in danger of being disembowelled by its ad- 

 versary, the larva has no other support than 

 the tip of the abdomen and the terminal 

 tube. The six legs play no part in sustain- 

 ing it; they wave in the air, all six free and 

 ready to clasp the enemy. 



The two adversaries are standing face to 

 face. Which of the two will eat the other? 

 Chance decides. Mutual threats are fol- 

 lowed by a hand-to-hand struggle. The 

 fight does not last long. Favoured by the 

 hazards of the fray, or perhaps timing its 

 blows more accurately, one seizes the other 

 by the scruff of the neck. It is done : any 

 resistance on the part of the vanquished is 

 impossible; blood flows and murder has been 

 committed. When all movement has ceased, 

 the victor devours the slain, leaving only the 

 unpleasantly hard skin. 



Is this frenzy for killing among creatures 

 of the same species due to cannibalism en- 

 forced by starvation ? I really do not think 

 so. When well-fed to begin with, rich, 

 moreover, in the victuals which I lavish upon 

 52 



