The Sloe-Weevil 



adapted, so it seems to me, to working in 

 the narrow crease of a fold; she has spiked 

 sandals which give her a firm hold on slippery 

 surfaces. Any one acquainted with the 

 cigar-makers has but to see her to call her 

 straightway by the same generic name. 

 The nomenclators have made no mistake; 

 they are unanimous in styling her a Rhyn- 

 chites. Judging the trade by the worker's 

 looks, we do not hesitate : we set down this 

 third Rhynchites as a rival of the others, we 

 class her in the leaf-rollers' guild. 



Well, in this case, we are thoroughly 

 deceived by outward appearances; we are 

 taken in by an identity of structure. In her 

 habits, the Rhynchites of the Sloe has 

 nothing in common with the two with whom 

 she is associated by her classification, which 

 is based solely on the peculiarities of her 

 form. What is more, until she is seen at 

 work, no one would suspect her calling. She 

 exploits the fruit of the sloe exclusively; her 

 grub's ration is the tiny kernel and its lodging 

 the small stone of the sloe. 



So, unskilled in the trade of her fellows, 

 without any change in her tools, the kins- 

 woman of the cigar-makers becomes a driller 

 197 



