The Vegetarian Insects 



swaying their heads to and fro if I disturb 

 them. This persistence of Hfe In such puny 

 creatures deprived of food rouses our aston- 

 ishment. It reminds us of the grubs of the 

 Attelabus-beetle, which, subjected to the 

 drought of summer in their Httle kegs made 

 of a strip of oak-leaf, cease eating and 

 slumber, half-dead, for four or five months, 

 until the autumn rains have softened their 

 food. 



When I myself produced rain, a thing not 

 beyond my power, so far as the needs of a 

 grub are concerned, when I softened the rigid 

 kegs and made them edible by a brief Immer- 

 sion in water, the recluses used to return to 

 Hfe, begin to eat again and continue their 

 larval development without further check. 

 Similarly, after six months' fasting In the 

 heart of Inacceptable sticks, the Capricorn 

 grubs would have recovered their strength 

 and activity If I had removed them and put 

 before them a freshly-cut billet of oak. I 

 did not do It, so certain did the success of the 

 experiment appear. 



I had other schemes In view. I wished 

 to learn how long this arrested life could be 

 prolonged. A year after the hatching, I 

 233 



