58 SOCIAL LIFE IN THE INSECT WORLD 



ventral face, formed by the junction of the two fore- 

 limbs. The segmentation of the body is very clear, 

 especially on the abdomen. The whole body is perfectly 

 smooth, without the least suspicion of hair. 



What name are we to give to this initial phase of the 

 Cigale — a phase so strange, so unforeseen, and hitherto 

 unsuspected ? Must I amalgamate some more or less 

 appropriate words of Greek and fabricate a portentous 

 nomenclature ? No, for I feel sure that barbarous alien 

 phrases are only a hindrance to science. I will call it 

 simply the primary larva, as I have done in the case of 

 the Meloides, the Leucospis, and the Anthrax. 



The form of the primary larva of the Cigale is eminently 

 adapted to its conditions and facilitates its escape. The 

 tunnel in which the egg is hatched is very narrow, leaving 

 only just room for passage. Moreover, the eggs are arranged 

 in a row, not end to end, but partially overlapping. The 

 larva escaping from the hinder ranks has to squeeze past 

 the empty shells, still in position, of the eggs which have 

 already hatched, so that the narrowness of the passage is 

 increased by the empty egg-shells. Under these con- 

 ditions the larva as it will be presently, when it has torn 

 its temporary wrappings, would be unable to effect the 

 difficult passage. With the encumbrance of antennae, 

 with long limbs spreading far out from the axis of the body, 

 with curved, pointed talons which hook themselves into 

 their medium of support, everything would militate against 

 a prompt liberation. The eggs in one chamber hatch 

 almost simultaneously. It is therefore essential that the 

 first-born larvae should hurry out of their shelter as quickly 

 as possible, leaving the passage free for those behind them. 

 Hence the boat-like shape, the smooth hairless body 



