The Sacred Beetle and Others 



as compasses; the Gymnopleurus has similar 

 tools. But the Copris, unprovided with the 

 spread of limb which would enable her to 

 encircle the object, finds nothing in her equip- 

 ment that favours the formation of a sphere. 

 Perched upon her ovoid, she labours at it bit 

 by bit with an intensity that makes up for 

 her defective implements; she estimates the 

 correctness of its curve by assiduous tactile 

 examinations from one end to the other. 

 Perseverance triumphs over clumsiness and 

 achieves what at first seemed impossible. 



Here all my readers will assail me with 

 the same questions : why this abrupt change 

 in the Insect's habits? Why this indefati- 

 gable patience in a form of work that bears 

 no relation to the tools at hand? And what 

 is the use of this ovoid shape whose perfect- 

 ion demands so great an outlay of time? 



To these queries I see only one possible 

 reply: the preservation of the foodstuffs in a 

 fresh condition demands the globular form. 

 Remember this: the Copris builds her nest in 

 June; her larva develops during the dog- 

 days; it lies a few inches below the surface of 

 the ground. In the cavern, which is now a 

 furnace, the provisions would soon become 

 uneatable, if the mother did not give them 



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