The Spotted Larinus 



opening of the shaft with the tip of her 

 belly and lays the egg. But how? The 

 pregnant insect's abdomen is far too large 

 and too blunt to enter the narrow passage 

 and deposit the egg directly at the bottom. 

 A special tool, a probe carrying the egg to 

 the point required, is therefore absolutely 

 needed here. But the insect does not possess 

 one that shows; and things take place so 

 swiftly and discreetly that I see nothing of 

 that kind unsheathed. 



No matter, I am positively convinced of it : 

 to place the egg at the bottom of the shaft 

 which the rostrum has just bored, the mother 

 must possess a guide-rod, a rigid tube, kept 

 in reserve, invisible, among her tools. We 

 shall return to this curious subject when more 

 conclusive instances arise. 



One first point is gained: the Weevil's ros- 

 trum, that nose which at first sight was 

 deemed grotesque, is in reality an instrument 

 of maternal love. The extravagant becomes 

 the everyday, the indispensable. Since it 

 carries mandibles and other mouth-parts at 

 its tip, its function is to eat, that is self- 

 evident; but to this function is added another 

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