10 INSECT LIFE i 



But the evidence of the scalpel forces me to give up 

 this family idyll. There is no outward sign of sex 

 in the Scarabaeus, but on dissecting a couple em- 

 ployed on one and the same ball they often turned 

 out to be of the same sex. In fact, there is neither 

 community of family nor community of labour. 

 What, then, is the reason of the apparent partner- 

 ship? Merely an attempt at filching. The eager 

 fellow-worker, under pretence of giving a helping 

 hand, cherishes the project of carrying off the ball 

 at the earliest opportunity. To make one for itself 

 at the heap demands labour and patience ; to abstract 

 a ready-made one, or at least to foist one's self in as a 

 sharer of the feast, is much more convenient. If the 

 owner's watchfulness should slacken, one will flee 

 with the treasure ; if too closely looked after, one 

 can at least sit down at table on the pretext of 

 services rendered. With such tactics all turns to 

 profit, so that pillage is carried on as one of the 

 most lucrative of trades. Some, as I have just said, 

 play an underhand game, hastening to the aid of 

 some comrade who has not the least need of them, 

 and under the cloak of charitable assistance conceal 

 a highly indelicate greed. Others, bolder or more 

 confident in their strength, go straight to the goal 

 and rob by main force. Every moment some such 

 scene as this will take place. A beetle departs 

 alone, rolling his ball, his own property, acquired by 

 conscientious labour ; another comes flying, whence 

 I know not, drops heavily, folds his smoky wings 

 under their elytra, and with the back of his toothed 

 feet oversets the proprietor, which, being hindside 

 before, cannot defend itself. While the latter 



