The Sacred Beetle and Others 



species, when consulted in the same manner, 

 give the same reply. The Onthophagus 

 tribe knows nothing of household ties. 



In what respect are those who know them 

 and who observe them so faithfully any the 

 better off? I do not quite see; or, to be 

 more candid, I do not see at all. If, in the 

 case of the Geotrupes, I see in the bulky 

 pudding some slight excuse for the collabora- 

 tion of the father, who is a valuable assistant 

 in the fabrication of this kind of preserve, 

 and if, in that of the Minotaur, the im- 

 mensely deep well might suggest to me the 

 need for the trident-wearing helper, who 

 shoots out the rubbish while the mother 

 goes on digging, I should still be without an 

 explanation when I came to the Sisyphus, who 

 is very economical both in provisions and in 

 the labour of excavation and requires no help 

 with either. I will not deny that, in this last 

 case, the male is of some use, watching over 

 the pill, lending occasional help and en- 

 couraging the female with his presence; but, 

 after all, the part which he plays as a 

 collaborator is a very secondary one and the 

 mother, one would say, could do without any 

 assistance, as is the rule among the Scara- 

 baei. Here, besides, we have the Bull 

 Onthophagus, who is even smaller than the 



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