AN INVADER 297 



might. But it does not do so ; imprisoned in my bottles 

 together with a handful of wheat, barley, rice, or maize, 

 the Bruchus invariably perished and left no offspring. 

 The result was the same with oleaginous seeds : such as 

 castor-oil and sunflower. Nothing outside the bean 

 family is of any use to the Bruchus. Thus limited, its 

 portion is none the less considerable, and it uses and 

 abuses it with the utmost energy. The eggs are 

 white, slender, and cylindrical. There is no method 

 in their distribution, no choice in their deposition. The 

 mother lays them singly or in little groups, on the walls 

 of the jar as well as on the haricots. In her negligence 

 she will even lay them on maize, coffee, castor-oil seeds, 

 and other seeds, on which the newly born grubs will 

 promptly perish, not finding them to their taste. What 

 place has maternal foresight here ? Abandoned no matter 

 where in the heap of seeds, the eggs are always in place, 

 as it is left to the grub to search and to find the points 

 of invasion. 



In five days at most the egg is hatched. A little white 

 creature with a red-brown head emerges. It is a mere 

 speck of a creature, just visible to the naked eye. Its 

 body is thickened forward, to give more strength to its 

 implements — its mandibles — which have to perforate the 

 hard substance of the dry bean, which is as tough as 

 wood. The larvae of the Buprestis and the Capricornis, 

 which burrow in the trunks of trees, are similarly shaped. 

 Directly it issues from the egg the wriggling creature 

 makes off at random with an activity we should hardly 

 expect in one so young. It wanders hither and thither, 

 eager to find food and shelter as soon as possible. 



Within twenty-four hours it has usually attained both. 



