CHAPTER XVII 



THE ELEPHANT-BEETLE 



Some of our machines have extraordinary-looking 

 mechanisms, which remain inexplicable so long as 

 they are seen in repose. But wait until the whole is 

 in motion ; then the uncouth-looking contrivance, 

 with its cog-wheels interacting and its connecting-rods 

 oscillating, will reveal the ingenious combination in 

 which all things are skilfully disposed to produce the 

 desired effects. It is the same with certain insects ; 

 with certain weevils, for instance, and notably with the 

 Acorn-beetles or Balanini, which are adapted, as their 

 name denotes, to the exploitation of acorns, nuts, and 

 other similar fruits. 



The most remarkable, in my part of France, is the 

 Acorn Elephant (Balaninus elephas, Sch.). It is well 

 named ; the very name evokes a mental picture of the 

 insect. It is a living caricature, this beetle with the 

 prodigious snout. The latter is no thicker than a horse- 

 hair, reddish in colour, almost rectilinear, and of such 

 length that in order not to stumble the insect is forced 

 to carry it stiffly outstretched like a lance in rest. 

 What is the use of this embarrassing pike, this ridicu- 

 lous snout ? 



