The Glow-Worm and Other Beetles 



with which the modest 'resources of my gar- 

 den have allowed me to experiment: aspho- 

 del, funkia, or niobe, agapanthus, or African 

 lily, tritelia, hemerocallis, or day lily, tritoma, 

 garlic, ornithogalum, or star of Bethlehem, 

 squill, hyacinth, muscari, or grape-hyacinth. 

 I record, for whom it may concern, this pro- 

 found contempt of the Crioceris for the daf- 

 fodils. An insect's opinion is not to be de- 

 spised: it tells us that we should obtain a 

 more natural arrangement by separating the 

 daffodils farther from the lilies. 



In the first of the three tribes, the classic 

 white lily, the plant preferred by the insect, 

 takes the chief place; next come the other 

 lilies and the fritillaries, a diet almost as 

 much sought after; and lastly the tulips, 

 which the season is too far advanced to allow 

 me to submit for the approval of the Crio- 

 ceris. 



The third tribe had a great surprise in 

 store for me. The red Crioceris fed, though 

 with a very scornful tooth, on the foliage of 

 the asparagus, the favourite dish of the Field 

 Crioceris and the Twelve-spotted Crioceris. 

 On the other hand, she feasted rapturously on 

 the lily of the valley (Convallaria maialis} 

 and on -Solomon's seal (Polygonatum vul- 

 gar e) , both of which are so different from the 

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