118 Life and Immortality. 
this agreeable occupation, not wishing to leave their victim, 
they fly away with it to a place of uninterrupted security, 
but they are unable to carry a heavy burden to any great 
distance. 
They are true children of the earth. The eggs are laid 
in the earth, and in the earth the grubs are hatched, and in 
the earth they spend their days, and in the earth they 
prepare their shrouds, and, wrapped therein, sleep their 
pupa-sleep through the long, dreary winter, and with the 
returning warmth of spring crawl out of their earthy chambers 
to run and sport on earth, seldom using their new-formed 
wings to fly away from their beloved mother. 
The grubs are hideous hunchbacks, but possessed of 
brains and stomach. They live in the same localities as 
their parents, the anxious mother, with wise precision, 
having carefully deposited her eggs where food would be 
readily attainable by her children. Have you a desire to 
examine a larva? There is a hole that has been made by 
one of these creatures. Place down into it a small straw or 
a bit of fine twig. The cranky little hermit, who is always 
wide-awake, resists most fiercely such unprovoked insolence, 
and instantly seeks, by the aid of his broad, expansive head, 
to eject the intruding object. Now is your time. When he 
shows himself, quickly seize him with your fingers. You 
will find him a perfect Daniel Quilp, with head enormous, 
flat, metallic in color and armed with long, curved jaws. 
His legs are six in number, and on the back, half-way 
between the legs and tail, are two curious, odd-looking 
tubercles, each terminating in a pair of recurved hooks. The 
head and first body-division are horny, the rest of the creature 
being soft and very sensitive. 
While the larval Cicindela has all the desire for slaughter 
which his parents manifest, yet his delicate skin, long body 
and stubby legs not only prevent him from chasing prey, 
but also from attempting a struggle with an insect of any 
size; nevertheless this imperfectly armed creature manages 
