The Life of the Weevil 



Their final transformation will tell me that I 

 really have the authentic larva of the Cionus 

 before my eyes. 



They are bare, legless grubs, of a uniform 

 pale yellow, excepting the head, which is 

 black, and the first segment of the thorax, 

 which is adorned with two large black spots. 

 They are varnished all over their bodies with 

 a glutinous humour, so much so that they 

 stick to the paint-brush used to collect them 

 and are difficult to shake off. When teased, 

 they omit from the end of their intestine a 

 viscous fluid, apparently the. origin of their 

 varnish. 



They wander idly over the young twigs, 

 whose bark they gnaw down to the wood; 

 they also browse on the leaves growing 

 from the twigs, which are much smaller than 

 those upon the ground. Having found a 

 good grazing-place, they stay there without 

 moving, curved into a bow and held in 

 position by their glue. Their walk is an 

 undulating crawl, based upon the support 

 of their sticky behind. Helpless cripples, 

 but coated with an adhesive varnish, they 

 are firmly enough fixed to resist a shake of 

 the bough that bears them without falling 

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