More Beetles 



legs, notwithstanding their contact with the 

 rough ground, are as perfectly fingered as the 

 others : they possess the delicate tarsi which 

 the Scarab is denied. Then why should the 

 latter prove an exception to what in the 

 others is the rule? How gladly would I 

 welcome a word from the discerning person 

 who could answer my humble question ! 



My satisfaction would be equally great if 

 I knew why the Iris-weevil's l tarsus has a 

 single nail, whereas the other insects have 

 two, set side by side and bent into a hook. 

 Why was one of these two little claws sup- 

 pressed? Would it not have been useful 

 to the insect? One would think so. The 

 little Weevil thus mutilated is a climber; she 

 clambers up the smooth stems of the iris; she 

 explores the flowers, visiting the lower sur- 

 face of the petals as well as the upper; she 

 walks upside down on the slippery pods. 

 An extra hook would do much to ensure her 

 steadiness; yet the thoughtless Weevil de- 

 prives herself of it, though by law she has a 

 right to the double claw invariably wielded 

 by the others, even in her own long-nosed 

 clan. What then is the secret of the little 

 Iris-weevil's missing finger-nail? 



i Cf. The Life of the Weevil: chap, xiv. Translator's 

 Note. 



262 



