The Sacred Beetle and Others 



comes ebon-black, the cuirass hardens. The 

 insect is ready for the emergence. We are 

 at the end of September; the earth has drunk 

 in a few showers which soften the stubborn 

 shell and allow of an easy deliverance. 

 This is the moment, prisoners mine. If I 

 have teased you a little, at least I have kept 

 you in plenty. Your shells have hardened 

 in your cages and have become caskets which 

 your own efforts will never succeed in forcing 

 open. I will come to your aid. Let us 

 describe in detail how things happen. 



Once the burrow is supplied with the 

 voluminous loaf out of which three or four 

 pilular rations are to be carved, the mother 

 does not appear outside again. Besides, 

 there is no provision made for her. The 

 heap stored away below is the family cake, 

 the exclusive patrimony of the grubs, who 

 will receive equal shares. For four months, 

 therefore, the recluse is without food of any 

 kind. 



It is a voluntary privation. Victuals are 

 there, within reach, copious and of superior 

 quality; but they are intended for the larvae 

 and the mother will take good care not to 

 touch them : anything abstracted for her own 

 use would mean so much less for the grubs. 

 Gluttonous at the outset, when there was 

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