CHAPTER XIV 



THE GOLD BEETLES : THEIR NUPTIAL HABITS 



TT is admitted that, as an ardent destroyer 

 -■• of caterpillars and Slugs, the Gold Beetle 

 has pre-eminently earned his title of "Gar- 

 dener" : he is the watchful keeper of our 

 kitchen-gardens and our flower-borders. If 

 my enquiries add nothing to his established 

 reputation in this respect, they will at least, 

 in what follows, display the insect in an as yet 

 unsuspected light. The ferocious eater, the 

 ogre devouring any prey not beyond his 

 powers, is eaten in his turn. And by whom? 

 By his own kin and many others. 



We will begin by naming two of his en- 

 emies, the Fox and the Toad, who, in hard 

 times, for lack of anything better, do not dis- 

 dain such lean and caustic mouthfuls. When 

 telling the story of the Trox, I described 

 how the excreta of the Fox, which are easily 

 recognized by the Rabbit's-fur whereof they 

 largely consist, are sometimes encrusted with 

 Gold Beetles' wing-cases: the ordure is 

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