The Life of the Weevil 



grub has no veil to tear, no wall to break 

 through : the flesh of the apricot has become 

 a pinch of brown dust. 



In the old days, the Anthidia, 1 partly 

 weavers of cotton, partly kneaders of resin, 

 set me a difficult problem. Later came the 

 Dung-Beetles of the pampas, the Phanasi, 2 

 some preparing, as preserved foodstuff, cakes 

 of Cow-dung modelled in the shape of a 

 pear, others sausage-meat kept fresh in clay 

 jars. Both suggested the same difficulty: 

 can habits and industries which have no 

 mutual connection be explained as soon as 

 we accept a common origin for these different 

 manufacturers, who moreover are so much 

 alike in conformation? The question crops 

 up again, more urgently, with the four 

 Rhynchites. 



That the influence of environment may, to 

 some extent, have caused external modifica- 

 tions; that the light may have accentuated 

 the colouring; that the quantity of the food 

 may have brought about some small varia- 



1 For these Cotten-bees and Resin-bees, cf. Bramble-bees 

 and Others, by J. Henri Fabre, translated by Alexander 

 Teixeira de Mattos: chaps, ix. and x. Translator's Note. 



2 Cf. The Glow-Worm and Other Beetles: chaps, ix. 

 and x. Translator's Note. 



200 



