The Cionus 



the Weevil series. The mother entrusts her 

 eggs to the swelling capsules of the scollop- 

 leaved mullein. So far, everything is ac- 

 cording to rule. Other Weevils, as a matter 

 of fact, prefer, when setting their children up 

 in life, the pods of some other mullein, or 

 those of the figwort or of the snapdragon, 

 two plants belonging to one and the same 

 botanical family. But now we are suddenly 

 confronted with the strange and exceptional. 

 The mother Cionus choses the mullein with 

 the smallest capsules, whereas in the neigh- 

 bourhood and at the same season there are 

 others loaded with fruit whose dimensions 

 would provide spacious lodgings and abun- 

 dance of food. She prefers dearth to plenty 

 and narrow to spacious quarters. 



Worse still. Indifferent to leaving pro- 

 vision for her brood, she nibbles the tender 

 seeds, destroys them, extirpates them, in 

 order to obtain a cavity in the heart of the 

 tiny globule. Into this she slips more or less 

 half a dozen eggs. With the edible sub- 

 stance left, were the whole cell to be con- 

 sumed, there would not be enough to feed a 

 single grub. 



When the bread-pan is empty, the house is 

 331 



