The Glow- Worm and Other Beetles 



from the mere appearance of the insect, I 

 give it up. 



I know in my neighbourhood one Dung- 

 beetle and one alone who also works among 

 carrion. This is Onthophagus ovatus, LIN., 

 a constant frequenter of dead Moles 

 and Rabbits. But the dwarf undertaker 

 does not on that account scorn stercoraceous 

 fare : he feasts upon it like the other On- 

 thophagi. Perhaps there is a twofold diet 

 here : the bun for the adult; the highly-spiced, 

 far-gone meat for the grub. 



Similar facts are encountered elsewhere, 

 with differing tastes. The Hunting Wasp 

 takes her fill of honey drawn from the nec- 

 taries of the flowers, but feeds her little ones 

 on game. Game first and then sugar, for 

 the same stomach ! How that digestive 

 pouch must change during development! 

 And yet no more than our own, which scorns 

 in later life the food that delighted it when 

 young. 



Let us now examine the work of Phanaus 

 Milon more thoroughly. The calabashes 

 reached me in a state of complete desiccation. 

 They are very nearly as hard as stone; their 

 colour inclines to a pale chocolate. Neither 

 inside nor out does the lens discover the 

 slightest ligneous particle pointing to a vege- 

 252 



