Cerocomae, Mylabres and Zonites 



blossoms of the scabious (Scabiosa mari- 

 titna) : for the Zonitis, the full-blown heads 

 of the eryngo {Eryngium campestre) ; for 

 Schaeffer's Cerocoma, the heads of the lies 

 d'Hyeres everlasting (Helichrysum stoschas) . 

 These three last nibble more particularly the 

 anthers, more rarely the petals, never the 

 leaves. 



A sorry intellect and sorry manners, which 

 hardly repay the minute cares involved in the 

 rearing. To browse, to love her lord, to 

 dig a hole in the earth and carelessly to bury 

 her eggs in it: that is the whole life of the 

 adult Meloid. The dull creature acquires 

 a little interest only at the moment when the 

 male begins to toy with his mate. Every 

 species has its own ritual in declaring its 

 passion; and it is not beneath the dignity of 

 the observer to witness the manifestations, 

 sometimes so very strange, of the universal 

 Eros, who rules the world and brings a 

 tremor to even the lowest of the brute crea- 

 tion. This is the ultimate aim of the insect, 

 which becomes transfigured for this solemn 

 function and then dies, having no more to do. 



A curious book might be written on the 



subject of love among the beasts. Long 



ago the subject tempted me. For a quarter 



of a century my notes have been slumbering, 



165 



