More Beetles 



such as the narrow notch-leaved spurge 

 {Euphorbia serrata) and Gerard's spurge 

 {E. Gerardiana). 



Under my bell-jars it thrives on the first 

 spurge that comes to hand. Anything ex- 

 cept these caustic foods, which no other 

 caterpillar would accept, it abhors. It turns 

 away in disdain from the insipid lettuce of 

 our gardens, from peppermint, from the Cru- 

 ciferae, rich in sulphurous juices, the caustic 

 ranunculus and other more or less highly 

 flavoured plants. It will have nothing but 

 the spurge, whose milky sap would corrode 

 any gullet but its own. An insect that can 

 feed with pleasure on such acrid fare must 

 obviously be predisposed that way. 



For that matter, consumers devoted to 

 pungent flavours are not scarce. The grub 

 of Brachycerus algirus is as fond of aioli as 

 the Provencal peasant; it thrives and grows 

 fat in a clove of garlic, without other nour- 

 ishment. 



What is more, I have found the larvae of 

 I know not what insect on Nux vomica, the 

 terrible poison with which our municipal 

 authorities flavour the sausages used for de- 

 stroying Wolves and stray dogs. These 

 strychnine-eaters have certainly not accus- 

 226 



