The Pine Cockchafer 



the two parts together. Consequently the 

 two big night-insects are dumb. 



Though we are acquainted with the simple 

 mechanism of the Cockchafer's instrument, 

 its employment none the less remains a rid- 

 dle. Does the insect use it as a means of 

 nuptial appeal? This is likely. Neverthe- 

 less, I have not heard the slightest grating on 

 the pines, in spite of all my attention at pro- 

 pitious hours. I have heard nothing either 

 in the cages, where distance formed no ob- 

 stacle to the hearing. 



If we would make the Cockchafer squeak, 

 all that we need do is to take him in our 

 fingers and tease him a little. The sound 

 box works at once and does not cease until 

 we do. What we now hear is not a song but 

 a complaint, a protest against misfortune. 

 It is a singular world in which sorrow is 

 translated by couplets and joy by silence. 



The other scrapers of the abdomen or 

 corselet behave in like fashion. When sur- 

 prised upon her pills, at the bottom of her 

 burrow, the mother Copris groans, for a 

 moment, bewailing her fate : the Bolboceras, 

 held captive in the hand, protests with a 

 gentle elegy; the Capricorn when caught sets 

 up a desperate grating. All are mute as 

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