The Glow-Worm and Other Beetles 



ceptibly. The whole thing Is limited to the 

 inner vibrations of a resilient body which has 

 received a blow. But it Is quite enough to 

 disturb the insect's immobility. At each tap 

 the tarsi are flexed and quiver for a moment. 



Lastly, let us try the effect of light. So 

 far, the patient has been treated in the shade 

 of my cabinet, away from the direct sun- 

 light. The sun is shining full upon the 

 window. What will the motionless insect 

 do if I carry it thither, from my table to the 

 window, into the bright light? That we can 

 find out in a moment. Under the direct rays 

 of the sun, the Scarites immediately turns 

 over and moves off. 



This is enough. Patient, persecuted 

 creature, you have half-betrayed your insect. 

 When the Fly tickles you, drains your moist 

 lip, treats you as a corpse whose juices she 

 would like to suck; when the huge Capricorn 

 appears to your horrified gaze and puts a 

 foot on your belly, as though to take possess- 

 ion of his prey; when the table quivers, that 

 is to say, when, for you, the ground shakes, 

 undermined perhaps by some invader of your 

 burrow; when a bright light surrounds you, 

 favouring the designs of your enemies and 

 imperilling your safety as an Insect that loves 

 the dark, then, in truth, it would be wiser 

 380 



