The Bear Larinus 



If the head is a good-sized one, it is not 

 unusual to find a score or more of table- 

 companions, plump, red-headed grubs, with 

 fat, glossy backs. There is plenty of room 

 for all. 



For the rest, they are of a very stay-at- 

 home habit. Far from straying at random 

 over the abundant food-supply, in which they 

 might well sample the best and pick their 

 mouthfuls, they remain encamped within the 

 narrow area of the place where they were 

 hatched. Moreover, despite their corpu- 

 lence, they are extremely fruga*, to such a 

 point that, excepting the inhabited patches, 

 the floral head retains its full vigour and 

 ripens its seeds as usual. 



In this blazing summer weather, three or 

 four days are enough for the hatching. If 

 the young grub is at some distance from the 

 seeds, it reaches them by slipping along the 

 hairs, a few of which it gathers on its way. 

 If it is born in contact with a seed, it remains 

 in its native cup, for the desired point is 

 attained. 



Its food consists, in fact, of the few 

 surrounding seeds, five or six, hardly more; 

 and even so the greater number are only in 

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