The Glow-Worm and Other Beetles 



enabling the Lampyris to attain his object, 

 which is to consume his prey in perfect 

 quiet. 



What is his manner of consuming it? 

 Does he really eat, that is to say, does he 

 divide his food piecemeal, does he carve it 

 into minute particles, which are afterwards 

 ground by a chewing-apparatus? I think 

 not. I never see a trace of solid nourishment 

 on my captives' mouths. The Glow-worm 

 does not eat in the strict sense of the word: 

 he drinks his fill; he feeds on a thin gruel 

 into which he transforms his prey by a 

 method recalling that of the maggot. Like 

 the flesh-eating grub of the Fly, he too is able 

 to digest before consuming; he hquefies his 

 prey before feeding on it. 



This is how things happen: a Snail has 

 been rendered insensible by the Glow-worm. 

 The operator is nearly always alone, even 

 when the prize is a large one, like the Com- 

 mon Snail, Helix aspersa. Soon a number 

 of guests hasten up — two, three or more — 

 and, without any quarrel with real proprietor, 

 all alike fall to. Let us leave them to them- 

 selves for a couple of days and then turn 

 the shell, with the opening downwards. The 

 contents flow out as easily as would soup 

 from an overturned saucepan. When the 



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