The Geotrupes: the Larva 



lasting from September to some time In No- 

 vember. At that date the first hoar-frosts 

 begin; the soil is not warm enough to hatch 

 the eggs; and the last ones, unable to hatch 

 as swiftly as their predecessors, wait for the 

 return of the fine weather. A few mild April 

 days are enough to reawaken their suspended 

 vitality. Then the usual evolution goes on 

 and this so rapidly that, notwithstanding a 

 delay of five or six months, the backward 

 larvae are very nearly as big as the others 

 by May, when the first nymphs appear. 



Secondly, the Geotrupes' eggs are capable 

 of enduring the trials of severe cold un- 

 scathed. I do not know the exact tempe- 

 rature Inside the frozen block which I tried 

 to tackle with a mason's chisel. Outside, the 

 thermometer sometimes fell to ten degrees 

 below freezing-point; and, as the cold period 

 lasted a long time, we may believe that the 

 layer of earth In my boxes was equally cold. 

 Now the Geotrupes' puddings were enclosed 

 in that frozen mass turned to a block of stone. 

 A generous allowance must no doubt be made 

 for the non-conductivity of these puddings 

 composed of thready materials; the wall of 

 dung did, to a certain extent, protect the 

 larva and the egg against the biting cold, 

 which, if experienced direct, would have been 

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