Saprini, Dermestes and Others 



them, these miscreants are as prone as ever 

 to butcher their kith and kin. In vain I 

 overwhelm them with choice morsels : succu- 

 lent sausages in the shape of young Anoxia- 

 larvae ; ^ Vitrinae,^ tiny molluscs which I give 

 them half-crushed, to spare the banqueters 

 the trouble of extracting them from the 

 shell. As soon as they are confronted, the 

 two bandits, which have just been feasting 

 on a prey as bulky as themselves, stand up, 

 challenging each other and snapping at each 

 other until one of the two is dead. Then 

 follows the odious meal. To eat the mur- 

 dered kinsman is, it seems, the usual thing. 



The Mantis ^ who, in captivity, preys 

 upon her mates has the madness of the rut- 

 ting beast as her excuse. The fierce, jealous 

 creature can find no better way of getting rid 

 of her rivals than to eat them, provided she 

 be the stronger. This procreative deprav- 

 ity is found much higher in the scale. The 

 Cat and the Rabbit notably are prone to de- 

 vour the young family which might stand in 

 the way of their unslaked passions. 



1 The Anoxia is a Beetle akin to the Cockchafer. — 

 Translator's Note. 



2 A genus of Land-Snails. — Translator's Note. 



3 Cf. The Life of the Grasshopper, by J. Henri Fabre, 

 translated by Alexander Teixeira de Mattos: chaps, vi. 

 to ix. — Translator's Note. 



53 



