The Glow-Worm and Other Beetles 



what at first was a warehouse for storing up 

 foodstuffs; and with his chalk-like uric pulp 

 he lavishly daubs his belly, which turns a 

 creamy white, and smears it on his forehead, 

 his face, his cheeks, until they assume the 

 appearance of old ivory. All those parts, in 

 fact, which lie immediately under the trans- 

 lucid skin are covered with a layer of pig- 

 ment which can be turned into murexide and 

 is identical in nature with the white powder 

 of the adipose lace. 



Biological chemistry can hardly offer a 

 simpler and more striking experiment than 

 this analysis of the Decticus' finery. To 

 those who have not this curious Grasshopper 

 handy, I recommend the Ephippiger of the 

 Vines, who is much more widely distributed. 

 His ventral surface, which also is of a 

 creamy white, likewise owes its colour to a 

 plastering of uric acid. In the Grasshopper 

 family many other species of smaller size and 

 requiring more delicate handling would give 

 us the same results in varying degrees. 



White, slightly tinged with yellow, is all 

 that the urinary palette of the Locustidae 

 shows us. A caterpillar, the Spurge Hawk- 

 moth's, will take us a little farther. Dappled 

 red, black, white and yellow, its livery is the 

 most remarkable in our part of the country. 

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