Insects and Mushrooms 



groups, everything suits it. This puny grub, 

 which will spin itself an infinitesimal cocoon of 

 white silk under the piece attacked and will 

 later become an insignificant Moth, is the 

 primordial ravager. 



Let us next mention the Arion, that vo» 

 racious Mollusc who also tackles most mush- 

 rooms of some size. He digs himself spacious 

 niches inside them and there sits blissfully eat- 

 ing. Few in numbers, compared with the other 

 devourers, he usually sets up house alone. He 

 has, by way of a set of jaws, a powerful plane 

 which creates great breaches in the object of 

 his depredations. It is he whose havoc is most 

 apparent. 



Now all these gnawers can be recognized by 

 their leavings, such as crumbs and worm-holes. 

 They dig clean passages, they slash and 

 crumble without a slimy trail, they are the 

 pinkers. The others, the liquefiers, are the 

 chemists; they dissolve their food by means 

 of reagents. All are the grubs of Flies and 

 belong to the commonalty of the Muscidae. 

 Many are their species. To distinguish them 

 from one another by rearing them in order to 

 obtain the perfect stage would involve a great 

 expenditure of time to little profit. We will 

 describe them by the general name of maggots. 

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