The Glow- Worm and Other Beetles 



fields. He is also one of the most celebrated 

 of insects in respect of his psychical capaci- 

 ties. This undertaker is endowed, they say, 

 with intellectual faculties approaching to rea- 

 son, such as are not possessed by the most 

 gifted of the Bees and Wasps, the collectors 

 of honey or game. He is honoured by the 

 two following anecdotes, which I quote from 

 Lacordaire's 1 Introduction a I'entomologie, 

 the only general treatise at my disposal: 



" Clairville," says the author, " reports 

 that he saw a Necrophorus vespillo, who, 

 wishing to bury a dead Mouse and finding 

 the soil on which the body lay too hard, 

 went to dig a hole at some distance, in soil 

 more easily displaced. This operation com- 

 pleted, he attempted to bury the Mouse in 

 the cavity, but, not succeeding, he flew away 

 and returned a few moments later, accom- 

 panied by four of his fellows, who assisted 

 him to move the Mouse and bury it." 



In such actions, Lacordaire adds, we can- 

 not refuse to admit the intervention of rea- 

 son. 



1 Jean Theodore Lacordaire (1801-1870), author of 

 Genera des coleopttres (1854-1876) and of the work 

 quoted above (1837-1839). Translator's Note. 

 298 



