The Glow-Worm and Other Beetles 



costume. It is skimpy in the extreme, but at 

 any rate it is something. 



With the urinary broth of which its intes- 

 tine is unable to get rid, the larva has dis- 

 covered a means of making itself look a little 

 smart. The Anthidia have shown us how, 

 in their cotton-wool wallets, they manufac- 

 ture a sort of jewellery with their ordure. 

 The robe studded with grains of alabaster is 

 a no less ingenious invention. 



To beautify themselves cheaply by using 

 up their own refuse is a very common method 

 even among insects endowed with all that is 

 wanted for evacuating waste matter. While 

 the larvae of the Hunting Wasps, unable to 

 do better, stipple themselves with uric acid, 

 there are plenty of industrious creatures that 

 are able to make themselves a superb dress 

 by preserving their excretions in spite of their 

 own open sewers. With a view to self-em- 

 bellishment, they collect and treasure up the 

 dross which others hasten to expel. They 

 turn filth into finery. 



One of these is the White-faced Decticus 

 (D. albifrons, Fab.), the biggest sabre- 

 bearer of the Provencal fauna. A magnifi- 

 cent insect is this Grasshopper, with a broad 

 ivory face, a full, creamy-white belly and 

 long wings flecked with brown. In July, the 

 280 



