88 FABRE'S BOOK OF INSECTS 



The present indifference of the mother Beetle must not 

 make us forget the wonderful care she has lavished for four 

 months on end. Except among the Bees, Wasps, and Ants, 

 who spoon-feed their young and bring them up with every 

 attention to their health, I know of no other such case of 

 maternal self-denial. Alone and unaided she provides each 

 of her children with a cake of food, whose crust she con- 

 stantly repairs, so that it becomes the safest of cradles. So 

 intense is her affection that she loses all desire and need of 

 food. In the darkness of the burrow she watches over her 

 brood for four months, attending to the wants of the egg, 

 the grub, the undeveloped Beetle, and the full-grown insect. 

 She does not return to the glad outer life till all her family 

 are free. Thus we see one of the most brilliant examples 

 of maternal instinct in a humble scavenger of the fields. The 

 Spirit breatheth where He will. 



