The Sacred Beetle and Others 



part; he keeps watch over the loaf when the 

 mother is absent looking for a spot at which 

 to dig the burrow; he helps in the work of 

 excavation; he carries outside the rubbish 

 from the cavity; and lastly, to crown these 

 good qualities, he is to a large extent faith- 

 ful to his spouse. 



The Scarabaeus displays some of these 

 characteristics. He readily helps in manipu- 

 lating the pill; when it has to be carted, he 

 takes his place in a team of two, one 

 pulling and one pushing. But let me repeat 

 that the motive of this mutual service is 

 selfishness : the two fellow-workers labour 

 and cart the lump only for their own 

 purpose. To them it is a gala cake and no- 

 thing more. In that part of her work 

 which concerns the family, the Scarabaeus 

 mother has no assistant. Alone she rounds 

 her sphere, extracts it from the pile, rolls it 

 backwards by herself in the head-downwards 

 posture adopted by the male of the Sisyphus 

 couple; alone she digs her burrow; alone she 

 stores away its contents. Heedless of the 

 laying mother and the brood, the other sex 

 does not assist at all in the exhausting task. 

 How different from the pigmy pill-roller 1 



It is time to inspect the burrow. At no 

 great depth, we find a tiny niche, just large 

 350 



