The Cicada: leaving the Burrow 



able, then the ceiling is smashed with a few 

 strokes of the claws and the larva emerges 

 from the well. 



Everything seems to confirm that the 

 Cicada's gallery is a waiting-room, a me- 

 teorological station where the larva stays for 

 a long time, now hoisting itself near the sur- 

 face to discover the state of the weather, 

 now retreating to the depths for better 

 shelter. This explains the convenience of a 

 resting-place at the base and the need for a 

 strong cement on walls which, without it, 

 would certainly give way under continual 

 comings and goings. 



What is not so easily explained is the com- 

 plete disappearance of the rubbish corre- 

 sponding with the space excavated. What 

 has become of the twelve cubic inches of 

 earth yielded by an average well? There is 

 nothing outside to represent them, nor any- 

 thing inside either. And then how, in a soil 

 dry as cinders, is the plaster obtained with 

 which the walls are glazed? 



Larvas that gnaw into wood, such as 

 those of the Capricorn and the Buprestes, 1 



1 The Capricorn, or Cerambyx-beetle, lives in oak-trees; 

 the Buprestis-beetles are found mostly in felled timber. 

 — Translator's Note. 



31 



