Cerocomae, Mylabres and Zonites 



bobs up and down and makes swift rowing- 

 strokes with his fore-legs; the others remain 

 motionless. Thus are the sorrows of the 

 rejected beguiled for a moment. 



The Zonites, a rude clan, grazing on the 

 heads of the prickly eryngo, despise all 

 tender preliminaries. A few rapid vibra- 

 tions of the antennae on the males' part; and 

 that is all. The declaration could not be 

 briefer. The pairing, with the creatures 

 placed end to end, lasts nearly an hour. 



The Mylabres also must be very expedi- 

 tious in their preliminaries, so much so that 

 my cages, which were kept well-stocked for 

 two summers, provided me with numerous 

 batches of eggs without giving me a single 

 opportunity of catching the males in the least 

 bit of a flirtation. Let us therefore consider 

 the egg-laying. 



This takes place in August for our two 

 species of Mylabres. In the vegetable mould 

 which does duty as a floor to the wire-gauze 

 dome, the mother digs a pit four-fifths of an 

 inch deep and as wide as her body. This is 

 the place for the eggs. The laying lasts 

 barely half an hour. I have seen it last 

 thirty-six hours with Sitares. This quickness 

 of the Mylabris points to an incomparably 

 less numerous family. The hiding-place is 

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