The Spotted Larinus 



tions it between two implements, one of 

 which, in front, is the perforating augur and 

 the other, behind, hidden in the body and 

 unsheathed at the moment of the laying, is 

 the guiding tube. Except in the Weevils, 

 this curious mechanism is unknown to me. 



When the egg is placed in position — and 

 this is quickly done, thanks to the preliminary 

 work of the drill — the mother returns to the 

 point colonized. She packs the disturbed 

 materials a little, she lightly pushes back the 

 uprooted florets; then, without taking further 

 trouble, she goes away. She sometimes even 

 dispenses with these precautions. 



A few hours later, I examine the heads 

 exploited, which may be recognized by a 

 certain number of faded and slightly pro- 

 jecting patches, each of which shelters an egg. 

 With the point of my penknife I extract the 

 little, faded bundle and open it. At the 

 base, in a small round cell, hollowed out of 

 the substance of the central globule, the re- 

 ceptacle of the thistle-head, is the egg, fairly 

 large, yellow and oval. 



It is enveloped in a brown substance 

 derived from the tissues injured by the 

 mother's augur and from the exudations of 

 31 



