The Geotrupes: the Larva 



This time there is no ice left. The earth is 

 yielding and easy to dig. All the adult Geo- 

 trupes have died, bequeathing me a fresh 

 supply of sausages, almost as plentiful as that 

 which I had gathered and placed in safety in 

 October. They have all perished; there is 

 not a single survivor. Is cold or old age to 

 blame? 



At this very time and later, in April and 

 May, when the new generation is wholly in 

 the larval or at most in the nymphal stage, I 

 often find adult Geotrupes busy in their sca- 

 venging-works. The old ones therefore see 

 a second spring; they live long enough to 

 know their children and to work with them, 

 as do the Scarabaei, Copres and others. 

 These early insects are veterans. They have 

 escaped the hardships of winter because they 

 have been able to bury themselves far enough 

 underground. Mine, kept captive between a 

 few boards, have died for want of a suffi- 

 ciently deep pit. At a time when they needed 

 three feet of earth to shelter themselves, 

 they had less than twelve inches. It was 

 cold, therefore, that killed them, rather than 

 age. 



The low temperature, while fatal to the 

 adult, has spared the larva. The few sau- 

 sages left in position after my October dig- 



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