82 THE LIFE OF AN INSECT. 



This hard-hearted parent does not hesitate when- 

 ever he falls in with one of his children to seize 

 him and eat him up I If the mother spies him at 

 this horrible feast she immediately attacks him in 

 the manner described ; and does her utmost to deter 

 him from his cannibal propensities, by placing 

 herself in an attitude of determined resistance 

 before him. Was ever mother's love more plainly 

 manifested than this love ? No other instance of 

 an affection so strange and strong is to be found in 

 the tribe to which she belongs. 



The care of the earwig not only extends to 

 her eggs, but also to her young larvae. " In the 

 beginning of June/' writes the author last quoted, 

 " I found under a stone a female earwig, sur- 

 rounded by a number of little creatures which I 

 discovered to be her tiny family. She did not 

 attempt to leave them, and they frequently ran 

 and crouched under her, just as chickens under the 

 wing of a hen. I took them up and placed them 

 under a sand-glass, under which I had put a little 

 fresh earth. They did not bore into the earth ; 

 and it was most curious to see them running for 

 shelter under the mother, and pushing about 

 between her feet, while she remained perfectly 



