110 SOCIAL LIFE IN THE INSECT WORLD 



former flying. After several attacks, all of which end by 

 the beetle being flung back to some considerable dis- 

 tance, the insect regretfully abandons his prey. I have 

 kept two strong and lively caterpillars for a fortnight in 

 the cage of my golden beetles, and nothing more serious 

 occurred. The trick of the suddenly extended posterior 

 was too much for the ferocious mandibles. 



The chief utility of the Golden Gardener lies in its 

 extermination of all caterpillars that are not too powerful 

 to attack. It has one limitation, however : it is not a 

 climber. It hunts on the ground ; never in the foliage 

 overhead. I have never seen it exploring the twigs of 

 even the smallest of bushes. When caged it pays no 

 attention to the most enticing caterpillars if the latter 

 take refuge in a tuft of thyme, at a few inches above the 

 ground. This is a great pity. If only the beetle could 

 climb how rapidly three or four would rid our cabbages 

 of that grievous pest, the larva of the white cabbage 

 butterfly I Alas I the best have always some failing, 

 some vice. 



To exterminate caterpillars : that is the true vocation of 

 the Golden Gardener. It is annoying that it can give 

 us but little or no assistance in ridding us of another 

 plague of the kitchen-garden : the snail. The slime of the 

 snail is offensive to the beetle ; it is safe from the latter 

 unless crippled, half crushed, or projecting from the shell. 

 Its relatives, however, do not share this dislike. The 

 horny Procrustes, the great Scarabicus, entirely black 

 and larger than the Carabus, attacks the snail most 

 valiantly, and empties its shell to the bottom, in spite of 

 the desperate secretion of slime. It is a pity that the 

 Procrustes is not more frequently found in our gardens ; 

 it would be an excellent gardener's assistant. 



