The Gymnopleuri 



pill-roller. When the ball is made, his 

 supreme felicity, his siimma voluptas, is to 

 cart it backwards for hours at a time, to 

 juggle with it, so to speak, under a blazing 

 sun. His epithet pilularius notwithstanding, 

 the Gymnopleurus does not show so much 

 enthusiasm over a round pellet. Unless he 

 means to feed upon it quietly in a burrow or 

 to use it as a ration for his larva, he never 

 kneads a ball only to roll it about ecstatically 

 and then abandon it when this violent exer- 

 cise has given him his fill of pleasure. 



Both in his wild state and in captivity, the 

 Gymnopleurus makes his meal on the spot 

 where he finds his food; it is hardly his habit 

 to make a round loaf in order to consume it 

 afterwards in some underground retreat. 

 [The pill to which the insect owes its name is 

 rolled, so far as I have seen, only in the 

 interests of its family. 



The mother takes from the heap the 

 amount of material required for rearing a 

 larva and kneads it into a ball at the spot 

 where it is gathered. Then, going back- 

 wards, with her head down, like the Scarabs, 

 she rolls it and finally stores it In a burrow. 

 In order to give it the necessary treatment 

 for the egg to thrive. 



Of course the rolling ball never contains 

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