The Life of the Weevil 



hardened and are full of juice. Are the 

 appetites of the adult insect satisfied with 

 the fruit of any kind of iris? This can be 

 tested. 



Under the trellis-work of a wire cover, 

 I place before the Weevil some green 

 capsules of different origins. Jumbled up 

 with the fruits of the yellow iris are those 

 of the dwarf iris, the leg-of-mutton iris and 

 the spurious iris. To these I add some 

 foreign capsules, those of the pale Turkey 

 iris (/. pallida, LAM.) and of the great 

 bulbous iris (/. xiphoides, EHRH.), which 

 differs so greatly from the others by the bulb 

 which takes the place of the usual rhizone. 



Well, all these fruits are accepted as 

 eagerly as those of the yellow iris. The 

 Weevil riddles them with punctures, strips 

 them bare, pierces them with windows. The 

 capsules of my choosing and those from the 

 banks of the stream, which are normally 

 used, often lie side by side; the consumer 

 makes no distinction between them, but goes 

 without hesitation from one to the other, 

 attacking them with a zeal which is in no 

 wise impaired by the novelty of the dish. It 

 considers everything good to eat, so long as 

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