272 ODD HOURS WITH NATURE 



repulsive, abominable creeping thing, and that its 

 ugliness sufficiently explains its neglect by the 

 naturalists. But that is all a mistake. It is not 

 half so repulsive as the cockroach, which has 

 received any amount of attention and is invariably 

 presented to beginners in the science of en- 

 tomology ; and besides and this may be said to 

 be its trump card it has a beautiful character. 

 When a man says that he married his wife for 

 her beauty of character, it is generally surmised 

 that the lady is plain. The earwig undeniably 

 is plain, though it has its points of prettiness. 

 Its wings, for example which so few suspect, 

 tucked tightly as they are under their little covers- 

 are both delicate and beautiful. But its moral 

 charm is its real strength. 



The vast majority of insects have not the rudi- 

 ments of a moral character, which, the psychologists 

 are agreed, arises out of the maternal instinct. 

 They drop their eggs in more or less appropriate 

 places, and let their offspring look after them- 

 selves. Chuck and chance it is their motto. Ants 

 and bees furnish a doubtful exception to the rule, 

 for though they take great care of their young, 

 the ants and bees that do the caring are not the 

 parents of the young they look after. What they 

 exhibit is indeed not the maternal instinct, but the 

 social and economic instinct, and their care is not 

 affection but interest. The earwig, on the other 

 hand, goes into the business of maternity with all 

 the beautiful solicitousness of a bird. She broods 

 over her own eggs, and if they are disturbed she 

 will collect them and stand on the defensive with 



