The Geotrupes: Nest-building 



In this round hollow lies the egg, without 

 adhering in any way to the surrounding walls. 

 It is a white, elongated ellipsoid and is of 

 remarkable bulk in proportion to the insect. 

 In the case of the Stercoraceous Geotrupes, 

 it measures seven to eight millimetres in 

 length by four at its widest point. ^ The egg 

 of the Mimic Geotrupes is a little smaller. 



This little hollow contrived in the sub- 

 stance of the sausage, at the lower end, does 

 not agree at all with what I have read about 

 the Geotrupes' nest-building. Quoting an 

 old German writer, Frisch,^ an author whom 

 the poverty of my library does not allow 

 me to consult, Mulsant,^ speaking of the 

 Stercoraceous Geotrupes, says: 



" At the bottom of her perpendicular gal- 

 lery, the mother builds, usually with earth, a 

 sort of nest or egg-shaped shell, open at one 

 side. On the inner wall of this shell she 



1 .273 to .312 X .156 inch. — Translator's Note. 



2Johann Leonhard Frisch (1666-1743), a Lutheran 

 clergyman, lexicologist and natural historian and member 

 of the Berlin Academy. His Beschreibung 'van allerlei 

 Insecten in Deutschland was published in 1720 to 1738. — 

 Translator's Note. 



3 Martial Etienne Mulsant (1797-1880), professor of 

 natural history at the Lycee de Lyon ; author of Histoire 

 naturelle des coleopteres de France (i 839-1 846) and other 

 entomological works. — Translator's Note. 



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