76 FABRE'S BOOK OF INSECTS 



so imposing as the Sacred Beetle. Her name is the Spanish 

 Copris, and she is remarkable for the sharp slope of her chest 

 and the size of the horn surmounting her head. 



Being round and squat, the Spanish Copris is certainly 

 incapable of such gymnastics as are performed by the Sacred 

 Beetle. Her legs, which are insignificant in length, and 

 which she folds under her body at the slightest alarm, are 

 not in the least like the stilts of the pill-rollers. Their stunted 

 form and their lack of flexibility are enough in themselves to 

 tell us that their owner would not care to roam about burdened 

 with a rolling ball. 



The Copris, indeed, is not of an active nature. Once 

 she has found her provisions, at night or in the evening twi- 

 light, she begins to dig a burrow on the spot. It is a rough 

 cavern, large enough to hold an apple. Here is introduced, 

 bit by bit, the stuff that is just overhead, or at any rate lying 

 on the threshold of the cave. An enormous supply of food 

 is stored in a shapeless mass, plain evidence of the insect's 

 gluttony. As long as the hoard lasts the Copris remains 

 underground. When the larder is empty the insect searches 

 out a fresh supply of food, and scoops out another burrow. 



For the time being the Copris is merely a scavenger, a 

 gatherer of manure. She is evidently quite ignorant, at 

 present, of the art of kneading and modelling a round loaf. 

 Besides, her short clumsy legs seem utterly unsuited for any 

 such art. 



In May or June, however, comes laying-time. The insect 

 becomes very particular about choosing the softest materials 

 for her family's food. Having found what pleases her, she 

 buries it on the spot, carrying it down by armfuls, bit by bit. 

 There is no travelling, no carting, no preparation. I observe, 

 too, that the burrow is larger and better built than the tem- 

 porary abodes in which the Copris takes her own meals. 



Finding it difficult to observe the insect closely in its 

 wild state, I resolved to place it in my insect-house, and 

 there watch it at my ease. 



