The Glow-Worm and Other Beetles 



dinary sawdust. A layer of the same paste 

 divides the bottom of the chamber from the 

 low-ceilinged gallery, the work of the grub's 

 active life. Lastly, the magnifying-glass re- 

 veals upon the walls of the cell a tapestry of 

 woody fibres, very finely divided, standing 

 erect and closely shorn, so as to make a sort 

 of velvet pile. This quilted lining, of which 

 the Cerambyx of the Oak showed us the first 

 example, is, it seems to me, pretty often em- 

 ployed by the wood-eaters, Buprestes as well 

 as Longicorns. 



After these migrants, which travel from 

 the centre of the tree to the surface, we will 

 mention some others which from the surface 

 plunge into the interior. A small Buprestis 

 who ravages the cherry-trees, Anthaxia niti- 

 dula, passes his larval existence between the 

 wood and the bark. When the time comes 

 for changing its shape, the pigmy concerns 

 itself, like the others, with future and present 

 needs. To assist the perfect insect, the grub 

 first gnaws the under side of the bark, leaving 

 a thin screen of cuticle untouched, and then 

 sinks in the wood a perpendicular well, 

 blocked with unresisting sawdust. That is 

 on behalf of the future : the frail Buprestis 

 will be able to leave without hindrance. The 

 bottom of the well, better wrought than the 

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