The Beaded Trox 



under the furry ordure. Her foresight in 

 the interest of her young goes no further. 

 The cake that nourishes her will feed her 

 family likewise. It is large and will be 

 enough for all. 



In order to follow the first actions of the 

 grubs, I set apart a few eggs, singly, in a 

 glass tube. At the bottom is a column of 

 moist sand; above this is a store of food 

 taken from that part of the Vulpine excre- 

 ment which is richest in Rabbit's fur. 

 Hatched by day, the grub at first attends to 

 its lodging. It digs, hollowing itself a re- 

 treat in the sand, a short, vertical shaft into 

 which a few scraps of the fostering felt are 

 dragged afterwards. As and when the pro- 

 visions are consumed, the grub returns to the 

 surface to collect more. 



The manoeuvres of the grubs in the chief 

 establishment, the earthenware pan with the 

 wire-gauze cover, begin and are continued in 

 the same fashion. Under cover of the heap 

 exploited in common, the larvae have dug 

 themselves a vertical shaft apiece, the length 

 of a man's finger and the diameter of a thick 

 pencil. At the bottom of the dwelling there 

 is no mass of victuals stored up in advance, 

 such as the abundance on the surface would 

 (^7 



