The Vegetarian Insects 



born grub as one that will not object to 

 tackling ligneous fibres. With such a minc- 

 ing-machine, a bit of straw must be a luxury. 

 I watch the grubs taking their first mouth- 

 fuls. I expected to see them , hesitating, 

 searching uneasily through these unaccus- 

 tomed victuals, such as no Geotrupes, it seems 

 to me, can ever have used. Nothing of the 

 sort: this eater of dung-sausages accepts the 

 dead-leaf-sausages off-hand and so enthusias- 

 tically that I am convinced at the first trial 

 of the success of my queer experiment. 



The grub finds before it, to begin with, the 

 main nerve of a leaf. It seizes it, turns it 

 over and over with its palpi and fore-legs 

 and then gently nibbles one end of it. The 

 whole of it goes down. Other morsels fol- 

 low, large or small indifferently. There is 

 no picking and choosing: what the mandibles 

 encounter they crunch. And this goes on in- 

 definitely, always with an unimpaired appe- 

 tite, so that the insect attains the perfect 

 stage without a check. When the back is 

 black as ebony and the belly an amethystine 

 violet, I set my Geotrupes at liberty. I am 

 filled with amazement by what he has taught 

 me. 



An inverse experiment was essential. A 



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