EAKWIG. 229 



beetle preserves its treasure by hiding it out of sight below 

 ground, so this beetle no doubt secured the same end but 

 by other means ; ' seeing,' as Mr. Berkeley observes, ' that 

 if it did not hang up its prey, it might fall into the hands 

 of other hunters, it took all possible pains to find out the 

 best store-room for it.' 



The above instances of beetle-intelligence lead me to 

 credit the following, which has been communicated to me 

 by Br. Garraway, of Faversham. On a bank of moss in 

 the Black Forest he saw a beetle alight with a caterpillar 

 which it was carrying, and proceed to excavate a cylindrical 

 hole in the peat, about an inch and a half deep, into which, 

 when completed, it dropped the caterpillar, and then flew 

 away through the pines. 'I was struck,' says my corre- 

 spondent, ' with the creature's folly in leaving the whole 

 uncovered, as every curious wayfaring insect would doubt- 

 less be tempted to enter therein. However, in about a 

 minute the beetle returned, this time caxrjdng a small 

 pebble, of which there were none in the immediate vicinity, 

 and having carefully fitted this into the aperture, fled 

 away into space.' 



Earwig, 



I must devote a short division of this chapter to the 

 earwig. M. Geer describes a regular process of incubation 

 as practised by the mother insect. He placed one with 

 her eggs in a box, and scattered the eggs on the floor of 

 the latter. The earwig, however, carried them one by one 

 into a certain part of the box, and then remained con- 

 stantly sitting upon the heap without ever quitting it for 

 a moment. When the eggs were hatched, the young ear- 

 wigs kept close to their mother, following her about every- 

 where, and often running under her abdomen, just as 

 chickens run under a hen.^ 



A young lady, who objects to her name being published, 

 informs me that her two younger sisters (children) are in 

 the habit of feeding every morning with sugar an earwig, 

 which they call 'Tom,' and which crawls up a certain 

 curtain regularly every day at the same hour, with the 

 apparent expectation of getting its breakfast. This re- 



' Quoted by Bingley, loc. cit., vol. iii., pp. 150-51. 



