The Pine Cockchafer 



Cockchafer- and Anoxia-grubs, are hoarders 

 of faecal matter: they reserve in their brown 

 paunches the wherewithal to build themselves 

 a lodging when the time comes. 



I collect my fat grubs in a sandy soil, 

 where lean grass-tufts grow, at a great dis- 

 tance from any resinous tree except the cy- 

 press, which the adult insect does not visit. 

 The Cockchafer, therefore, after her regu- 

 lation frolics on the pines, came to this place 

 from afar to lay her eggs. She feeds fru- 

 gally on pine-needles; her larva calls for the 

 remnants of any leaves softened by under- 

 ground putrefaction. This is why the nup- 

 tial paradise is deserted. 



The larva of the Common Cockchafer, the 

 White Worm, a voracious nibbler of tender 

 roots, is the scourge of our crops; that of the 

 Pine Cockchafer seems to me to work hardly 

 any havoc. Decayed rootlets, decomposing 

 vegetable remains, are all that it needs. As 

 to the adults, they browse upon the green 

 pine-needles, without abusing their privilege. 

 If I were a land-owner, I should not trouble 

 my head about their devastations. A few 

 mouthfuls taken from the immense store of 

 leaves, a few pine-needles robbed of their 

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