The Crioceres 



race. Nor is there anything to tell us that 

 the soft coverlet is not at the same time a 

 shelter which screens a too sensitive skin from 

 the sun. And, if it were a mere fal-lal, a 

 furbelow of larval coquetry, even that would 

 not surprise me. The insect has tastes 

 which we cannot judge by our own. Let us 

 end with a doubt and proceed. 



May is not over when the grub, now fully- 

 grown, leaves the lily and buries itself at the 

 foot of the plant, at no great depth. Work- 

 ing with its head and rump, it forces back the 

 earth and makes itself a round recess, the 

 size of a pea. To turn the cell into a hollow 

 pill which will not be liable to collapse, all 

 that remains for it to do is to drench the 

 wall with a glue which soon sets and grips 

 the sand. 



To observe this work of consolidation, I 

 unearth some unfinished cells and make an 

 opening which enables me to watch the grub 

 at work. The hermit is at the window in a 

 moment. A stream of froth pours from his 

 mouth like beaten-up white of egg. He 

 slavers, spits profusely; he makes his pro- 

 duct effervescence and lays it on the edge of 

 the breach. With a few spurts of froth the 

 opening is plugged. 



I collect other grubs at the moment of 



437 



