The Life of the Weevil 



deliciously. Others bore little brown holes 

 in the tiny twigs, whence oozes a drop of 

 syrup which the Ants will come and lick up 

 presently. And that, for the moment, is all. 

 There is nothing to tell us where the eggs 

 will be laid. 



In July, certain capsules, still quite small, 

 green and tender, have at their base a brown 

 speck which might well be the work of the 

 Clonus placing her eggs. I have my doubts : 

 most of these punctured capsules contain 

 nothing. The grubs then left their cell 

 shortly after the hatching, the aperture, still 

 open, allowing them to pass. 



This emancipation of the new-born grubs, 

 this premature exposure to the dangers of the 

 outside world, is not consistent with the hab- 

 its of the Weevils, who are great stay-at- 

 homes while in the larval state. Legless, 

 plump, fond of repose, the grub shrinks from 

 change of place; it grows up on the spot 

 where it was born. 



Another circumstance increases my per- 

 plexity. Among the capsules which the Wee- 

 vil seems to have perforated with her ros- 

 trum, some contain eggs of an orange yellow, 

 grouped into a single heap of five or six or 

 312 



