FABRE'S BOOK OF INSECTS 



rest completes the strange boring-machine that pre- 

 pares an outlet for the feeble Anthrax. 



About the end of May the colouring of the pupa alters, 

 and shows that the transformation is close at hand. The 

 head and fore-part of the creature become a handsome, 

 shiny black, prophetic of the black livery worn by the 

 coming insect. I was anxious to see the boring-tools in 

 action, and, since this could not be done in natural con- 

 ditions, I confined the Anthrax in a glass tube, between 

 two thick stoppers of sorghum-pith. The space between 

 the stoppers was about the same size as the Bee's cell, 

 and the partitions, though not so strong as the Bee's 

 masonry, were firm enough to withstand considerable 

 effort. On the other hand the side-walls, being of glass, 

 could not be gripped by the toothed belts, which made 

 matters much harder for the worker. 



No matter: in the space of a single day the pupa 

 pierced the front partition, three-quarters of an inch 

 thick. I saw it fixing its double ploughshare against the 

 back partition, arching itself into a bow, and then 

 suddenly releasing itself and striking the stopper in front 

 of it with its barbed forehead. Under the blows of the 

 spikes the pith slowly crumbled to pieces, atom by atom. 

 At long intervals the method of work changed. The 

 animal drove its crown of awls into the pith, and fidgeted 

 and swayed about for a time; then the blows began again. 



[260] 



