The Sacred Beetle and Others 



bequeath to the grub an eminently well- 

 furnished larder. 



A pair that continue to exist as such, a 

 couple that join forces and unite their indus- 

 try for their offspring's welfare certainly re- 

 present enormous progress, perhaps the 

 greatest in the animal kingdom. One day, in 

 the midst of the isolated existences, the house- 

 hold appeared, the invention of an inspired 

 Dung-beetle. How is it that his magnificent 

 acquirement is the property of a few, instead 

 of extending all around, from one species to 

 another, throughout the guild? Can it be 

 that Scarabsei and Copres would have no- 

 thing to gain, in saving of time and labour, if 

 the mother, instead of working alone, had an 

 assistant? Things would move faster, so it 

 seems to me, and a more numerous family 

 would be permissible, a possibihty not to be 

 despised when one has an eye to the pro- 

 sperity of the species. 



How, on his side, did the Geotrupes think 

 of combining the two sexes in building the 

 nest and stocking the larder? The abrupt 

 transformation of the usual airy paternity of 

 the insect into something that rivals mother- 

 hood in tenderness is so serious and so rare an 

 event that one longs to discover the cause of 

 it, If indeed we may hope to do so with the 

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