The Poplar- Weevil 



in a sense paralysed, which can be easily 

 fashioned into a cylinder; she is perfectly 

 familiar with the little leaf-stalk, the petiole, 

 in which the vessels that disperse the energy 

 of the foliage are gathered in a tiny bundle ; 

 and she inserts her drill here, here only and 

 never elsewhere. Thus at one blow, without 

 much trouble, she effects the ruin of the 

 aqueduct. Where can the long-nosed insect 

 have learnt her clever trick of draining 

 springs ? 



The leaf of the poplar is an irregular 

 rhombus, a spear-head whose sides are 

 expanded into pointed wings. The manu- 

 facture of the cylinder begins with one of 

 these two lateral corners, the right or the 

 left indifferently. 



Despite the hanging posture of the leaf, 

 which makes the upper or lower surface 

 equally easy of access, the insect never fails 

 to take up its position on the upper side. 

 It has its reasons, dictated by the laws of 

 mechanics. The upper surface, which is 

 smooth and more flexible, has to form the 

 inside of the cylinder; the under surface, 

 which has greater elasticity because of its 

 145 



