The Sacred Beetle and Others 



the egg. The laying takes place not on the 

 public highway but in the privacy of the sub- 

 soil. A burrow is dug, two or three inches 

 deep at most. It is spacious in proportion 

 to its contents, proving that the Sacred 

 Beetle's studio-work is repeated by the 

 Gymnopleurus. I am speaking of that 

 modelling in which the artist must have 

 full liberty of movement. When the egg is 

 laid, the cell remains empty; only the pass- 

 age is filled up, as witness the little mound 

 outside, the surplus of the unreplaced 

 refuse. 



A minute's digging with my pocket-trowel 

 and the humble cabin is laid bare. The 

 mother is often present, occupied in some 

 trifling household duties before quitting the 

 cell for good. In the middle of the room 

 lies her work, the cradle of the germ and the 

 ration of the coming larva. Its shape and 

 size are those of a Sparrow's egg; and here 

 I am speaking of both Gymnopleuri, whose 

 habits and labours are so much alike that 

 I need not distinguish between them. Un- 

 less we found the mother beside it, we 

 should be unable to tell whether the ovoid 

 which we have dug up is the work of the 

 smooth or of the pock-marked insect. At 

 most, a slight advantage in size might point 

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