FABRE'S BOOK OF INSECTS 

 ii 



THE FIRST ADVENTURE 



The appearance of the young Sitaris showed me at 

 once that its habits must be peculiar. It could not, I 

 saw, be called on to move on an ordinary surface. The 

 spot where this larva has to live evidently exposes it 

 to the risk of many dangerous falls, since, in order to 

 prevent them, it is equipped with a pair of powerful 

 mandibles, curved and sharp; robust legs which end in 

 a long and very mobile claw; a variety of bristles and 

 probes; and a couple of strong spikes with sharp, hard 

 points an elaborate mechanism, like a sort of plough- 

 share, capable of biting into the most highly polished 

 surface. Nor is this all. It is further provided with 

 a sticky liquid, sufficiently adhesive to hold it in position 

 without the help of other appliances. In vain I racked 

 my brains to guess what the substance might be, so 

 shifting, so uncertain, and so perilous, which the young 

 Sitaris is destined to inhabit. I waited with eager im- 

 patience for the return of the warm weather. 



At the end of April the young grubs imprisoned in my 

 cages, hitherto lying motionless and hidden in the spongy 

 heap of egg-skins, suddenly began to move. They 

 scattered, and ran about in all directions through the 

 boxes and jars in which they have passed the winter. 



