CHAPTER YIII 

 THE SELF-DENIAL OF THE SPANISH COPRIS 



YOU remember, I hope, the Sacred Beetle, who spends 

 her time in making balls, both to serve as food 

 and also to be the foundation of her pear-shaped 

 nest. I pointed out the advantages of this 

 shape for the young Beetles, since the globe is the best form 

 that could be invented to keep their provisions from becoming 

 dry and hard. 



After watching this Beetle at work for a long time I began 

 to wonder if I had not perhaps been mistaken in admiring 

 her instinct so greatly. Was it really care for her grubs, 

 I asked myself, that taught her to provide them with the 

 tenderest and most suitable food ? It is the trade of the 

 Sacred Beetle to make balls. Is it wonderful that she should 

 continue her ball - making underground ? A creature built 

 with long curved legs, very useful for rolling balls across the 

 fields, will go on with her favourite occupation wherever she 

 may be, without regard to her grubs. Perhaps the shape 

 of the pear is mere chance. 



To settle this question satisfactorily in my own mind I 

 should need to be shown a Scavenger Beetle who was utterly 

 unfamiliar with the ball-making business in everyday life, 

 and who yet, when laying-time was at hand, made an abrupt 

 change in her habits and stored her provisions in the form of 

 a round lump. That would show me that it was not merely 

 custom, but care for her grubs, that made her choose the 

 globular shape for her nest. 



Now in my neighbourhood there is a Beetle of this very 

 kind. She is one of the handsomest and largest, though not 



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