38 



ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS. 



FOND OF GRAMMAR. 



BY OTTO LUGGER. 



[March, 



Entomologists all know that insects are by no means very stupid 

 animals, and know much more than is generally supposed. They 

 learn, no doubt, by experience as well as we do, but do not, as a 

 general rule, search for knowledge. 



A few days ago a young student at the Agricultural School 

 complained that his books at home were badly eaten by some 



iijsects, and as a specimen of the 

 damage caused by them he brought 

 a Norwegian grammar. And true 

 enough the damage done was very 

 plain, and the culprit, or rather 

 culprits, were still engaged in the 

 work, as may be seen in the illus- 

 tration. Snugly hidden in the 

 grammar were the larvae and the 

 imago of Trogosita mauritanica, 

 and also the pupal skin of a third 

 individual, already escaped. But 

 evidently the desire to inform them- 

 selves in the Norwegian grammar 

 had not been very great, or had 

 been too difficult for their taste. 

 They had not penetrated into the 

 grammatical mysteries, but were 

 satisfied to rest contented with a 

 very superficial knowledge of the 

 same. But they had gone into it 

 to stay ; had formed snug cells close 

 to the edges, and had plugged the 

 entrances with frass; had, so to 

 speak, burned the ships behind 

 them. Telling the boy that he 

 ought to be ashamed of neglecting 

 his books he wondered that the insects should have been able to 

 inform me of the fact. When I also told him to remove his books 

 from the vicinity of neglected flour, feed or similar things, he 

 looked perplexed, and said that the bugs had told me more about 



2C. {Bac.f 



y. (gorilannggti 



