The Glow- Worm and Other Beetles 



ters to the story of the formation of insects. 



After collecting a fairly large number of 

 these enigmatical shells containing adult 

 Sitares, I had the satisfaction of observing, 

 at leisure, the emergence of the perfect insect 

 from the shell, the act of pairing and the 

 laying of the eggs. The shell is easily 

 broken; a few strokes of the mandibles, dis- 

 tributed at random, a few kicks are enough 

 to deliver the perfect insect from its fragile 

 prison. 



In the glass jars in which I kept my Sitares 

 I saw the pairing follow very closely upon 

 the first moments of freedom. I even wit- 

 nessed a fact which shows emphatically how 

 imperious, in the perfect insect, is the need 

 to perform, without delay, the act intended 

 to ensure the preservation of its race. A 

 female, with her head already cut out of the 

 shell, is anxiously struggling to release her- 

 self entirely; a male, who has been free for 

 a couple of hours, climbs on the shell and, 

 tugging here and there, with his mandibles, 

 at the fragile envelope, strives to deliver the 

 female from her shackles. His efforts are 

 soon crowned with success; and, though the 

 female is still three parts swathed in her 

 swaddling-bands, the coupling takes place 

 immediately, lasting about a minute. During 

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