CHAPTER IV 



THE PRIMARY LARVA OF THE OIL-BEETLES 



I INTERRUPT the history of the Sitares 

 to speak of the Meloes, those uncouth 

 Beetles, with their clumsy belly and their 

 limp wing-cases yawning over their back like 

 the tails of a fat man's coat that is far too 

 tight for its wearer. The insect is ugly in 

 colouring, which is black, with an occasional 

 blue gleam, and uglier still in shape and gait; 

 and its disgusting method of defence increases 

 the repugnance with which it inspires us. If 

 it judges itself to be in danger, the Meloe 

 resorts to spontaneous bleeding. From its 

 joints a yellowish, oily fluid oozes, which 

 stains your fingers and makes them stink. 

 This is the creature's blood. The English, 

 because of its trick of discharging oily blood 

 when on the defensive, call this insect the 

 Oil-beetle. It would not be a particularly 

 interesting Beetle save for its metamorphoses 

 and the peregrinations of its larva, which are 

 similar in every respect to those of the larva 

 of the Sitares. In their first form, the Oil- 

 beetles are parasites of the Anthophorae; 

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