CHAPTER X 



THE SLOE-WEEVIL 



"VTO less skilled than the Vine and Poplar- 

 ■^ ^ Weevils in the art of leaf-rolling, the 

 Attelabus and the Apoderus have shown us 

 that, In spite of a dissimilar equipment, the 

 industry may remain the same; they have 

 proved that similarity of aptitude is compa- 

 tible with diversity of organization. Con- 

 versely, different trades may be followed 

 with the same tools; identity of form does 

 not imply equivalence of instinct. 



Who tells us this? Who puts forward 

 this subversive proposition? The Sloe- 

 Weevil {Rhynchites auratus, ScOP.) has the 

 audacity to do so. 



Rivalling the exploiters of the vine and 

 poplar in metallic lustre, she possesses, 

 exactly as they do, a curved awl which one 

 would say was meant for puncturing the stalk 

 of a leaf and then fastening the edges of the 

 rolled portion; her figure is short and squat, 

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