The Spanish Copris: the Mother 



its resources. Since it cannot be a plasterer, 

 it becomes a bricklayer. With its legs and 

 mandibles it removes particles from the walls 

 of its cells and comes and places them one 

 by one on the rim of the well. The defensive 

 work makes rapid progress and the as- 

 sembled atoms form a vault. It has no 

 strength about it, I admit; the dome falls 

 in if I merely breathe on it. But soon the 

 first mouthfuls will be swallowed; the in- 

 testines will fill; and, well-supplied, the grub 

 will come and consolidate the work by inject- 

 ing mortar Into the Interstices. Properly 

 cemented, the frail awning becomes a solid 

 ceiling. 



Let us leave the tiny grub in peace and 

 consult other larvae which have attained half 

 their full growth. With the point of my 

 penknife I pierce the pill at the upper end; 

 I open a window a few millimetres square. 

 The grub at once appears at the casement, 

 anxiously enquiring into the disaster. It 

 rolls itself over In the cell and returns to the 

 opening, this time, however, presenting its 

 wide, padded trowel. A jet of mortar is dis- 

 charged over the breach. The product is a 

 little too much diluted and of inferior quality. 

 It runs, it flows in all directions, it does not 

 set quickly. A fresh ejaculation follows and 

 225 



