The Cetoniae 



This extravagant method, contrary to the 

 accepted usages of locomotion, appears at 

 first sight an accident, a chance manoeuvre of 

 the bewildered animal. Not at all: it is a 

 normal manoeuvre; and the grub knows no 

 other. You turn it over on its belly, hoping 

 to see it progress in the customary fashion. 

 Your attempts are useless : obstinately it lies 

 down on its back again, obstinately it crawls 

 along in a reversed position. Nothing will 

 persuade it to walk on its legs. Either it 

 will remain motionless, coiled into a circle, 

 or, straightening itself out, it will travel up- 

 side down. This is its way of doing things. 



Leave it undisturbed on the table. It 

 sets off, longing to bury itself in the soil and 

 escape from its tormentor. Its progress is 

 by no means slow. The dorsal pads, actu- 

 ated by a powerful layer of muscle, give it a 

 hold even on a smooth surface, thanks to 

 their brush-like tufts of hair. They are 

 ambulacra which, by their multiplicity, exert 

 a vigorous traction. 



The moving mechanism is apt to roll from 

 side to side. By reason of the rounded 

 form of the back, the grub sometimes turns 

 turtle. The accident is not serious. With 

 a heave of its loins, the capsized grub at once 



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