More Hunting Wasps 



this record, three kinds of larvae dwell to- 

 gether, belonging to the Scarabaeid group: 

 the Cetonia, the Oryctes and Scarab^eus 

 pentodon. Their internal structure is very 

 nearly similar; their food is the same, con- 

 sisting of decomposing vegetable matter; 

 their habits are identical: they live under- 

 ground in tunnels which are frequently re- 

 newed ; they make a rough egg-shaped cocoon 

 of earthy materials. Environment, diet. In- 

 dustry and internal structure are all similar; 

 and yet one of these three larvae, the Ce- 

 tonia's, reveals a most singular dissimilarity 

 from its fellow-trenchermen: alone among 

 the Scarabaeidae and, more than that, alone 

 in all the immense order of insects, it walks 

 upon its back. 



If the differences were a matter of a few 

 petty structural details, falling within the 

 finical department of the classifier, we might 

 pass them over without hesitation; but a 

 creature that turns itself upside down in 

 order to walk with its belly in the air and 

 never adopts any other method of locomo- 

 tion, though it possesses legs and good legs 

 at that, assuredly deserves examination. 

 How did the animal acquire its fantastic 

 mode of progress and why does it think fit 



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