Larval Dimorphism 



in the morning, sometimes in the afternoon, I 

 set myself to explore the flinty plateau. 



The Chalicodoma's nests abound, but I can- 

 not see a single Anthrax make a black speck 

 upon their surface. Not one, busy with her 

 laying, settles in front of me. At most, from 

 time to time, I can just see one passing far 

 away, with an impetuous rush. I lose her in 

 the distance; and that is all. It is impossible 

 to be present at the laying of the egg. I 

 know the little that I learnt from the cliffs 

 in the Legue and nothing more. 



As soon as I recognize the difficulty, I 

 hasten to enlist assistants. Shepherds — mere 

 small boys — keep the sheep in these stony 

 meadows, where the flocks graze, to the 

 greater glory of our local mutton, on the 

 camphor-saturated badafo, that is to say, 

 spike-lavender. I explain as well as I can the 

 object of my search; I talk to them of a big 

 black Fly and the nests on which she ought to 

 settle, the clay nests so well-known to those 

 who have learnt how to extract the honey 

 with a straw in spring-time and spread it 

 on a crust of bread. They are to watch that 

 Fly and take good note of the nests on which 

 they may see her alight; and, on the same 

 evening, when they bring their flocks back to 



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