The Life of the Weevil 



them in the centre of the scroll, almost at the 

 corner where the rolling begins; we come 

 upon them between the different layers and 

 even near the edge sealed in glue with the 

 signet of the rostrum. 



Without interrupting her work on the 

 cylinder, without relaxing the tension of her 

 claws, the mother laid them between the 

 edges of the fold which she was forming, as 

 she felt them coming, duly matured, at the 

 end of her oviduct. She produces life in the 

 very midst of her labours, amid the wheels of 

 the machine which would be thrown out of 

 gear if she snatched a moment's rest. 

 Industry and procreation go hand-in-hand. 

 Short-lived, with but two or three weeks 

 before her and an expensive family to estab- 

 lish, the mother Rhynchites would not dare 

 to waste time in being churched. 



This is not all: on the same leaf, not far 

 from the cylinder that is being laboriously 

 rolled, we almost always find the male. 

 What is he doing there, the lazybones? Is 

 he watching the work as a mere onlooker, 

 who happened to be passing and stopped to 

 see the wheels go round? Is he interested 

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