The Cetoniae 



I see the bristles bowing and standing up 

 again like corn waving in the wind. 



The head oscillates evenly. The tips of 

 the mandibles are used as a crutch which 

 measures the paces in advance and gives sta- 

 bility by obtaining a purchase of the walls. 

 In all the positions, which I vary at will by 

 turning the tube between my fingers, the legs 

 remain inactive even when they touch the 

 supporting surface. Their part in loco- 

 motion is almost nil. What use, then, can 

 they be? We shall see presently. 



The transparent channel in which the 

 larva is worming its way tells us what hap- 

 pens in the heart of the heap of garden- 

 mould. Supported on every side at once, 

 close-sheathed in the substance traversed, the 

 grub progresses in the normal position as 

 often as in the reversed position and even 

 oftener. By virtue of its dorsal waves, 

 which come into contact with the surround- 

 ing materials in every direction, it moves 

 back or belly uppermost, indifferently. 

 Here are no longer fantastic exceptions; 

 matters return to their habitual order; if we 

 could see the grub ambling through the heap 

 of rotting leaves, we should- not regard it as 

 in any way peculiar. 



23 



