More Beetles 



that the defects attaching to rearing in con- 

 finement have nothing to do with what re- 

 mains to be told. 



The second tin, in which strict abstinence 

 is enforced, provides me with two chrysalids, 

 whose diminished size indicates the presence 

 of dwarfs. I wait until the middle of Sep- 

 tember to open these caskets, which remained 

 closed when those in the first tin burst, two 

 months ago. Their persistent refusal to 

 split open is explained: each of them contains 

 nothing but a dead larva. Absolute starva- 

 tion was too much for the grubs' endurance. 

 Of the twelve kept without food, ten shriv- 

 elled up and eventually died; only two man- 

 aged to wrap themselves in a shell, by gluing 

 the droppings round about in the usual way. 

 This was their last effort. The two grubs, 

 incapable of performing the consummate 

 labour of the nymphosis, perished in their 

 turn. 



Lastly, in the third tin, where victuals were 

 very sparingly provided, eleven grubs out of 

 twelve died, worn out with privation. One 

 only has enclosed itself in a cocoon, which is 

 correctly made but very much reduced in size. 

 If there is a living insect within, it can only be 

 a dwarf. In the middle of September, I 

 250 



