CHAPTER XVII 



THE CRIOCERES (continued) 



/ "T~ V HE Crioceris has found safety inside its 

 * opal globe. Safety? Ah, but what 

 an unfortunate expression I have used! Is 

 there any one in the world who can flatter 

 himself that he has escaped the spoiler? 



In the middle of July, at the time when 

 the Twelve-spotted Crioceris comes up from 

 under the ground in the adult form, my rear- 

 ing-jars yield me swarms of a very small Gall- 

 fly, a slender, graceful, blue-black Chalcid, 

 without any visible boring-tool. Has the 

 puny creature a name? Have the nomen- 

 clators catalogued it? I do not know, nor 

 do I much care; the main thing is to learn 

 that the covering of the asparagus-berry, 

 which becomes an opal globe when the grub 

 has emptied it, has failed to save the recluse. 

 The Tachina-midge drains her victim by her- 

 self; this other, tinier creature feasts in com- 

 pany. Twenty or more of them batten on 

 the grub together. 



When everything seems to foretell a quiet 

 428 



