96 



THE INDUSTRIES OF ANIMALS. 



ing. It was his favourite dish. From all points of 

 the sky their heavy silhouettes could be seen against 

 the blue. It was still fresh, the sun having only 

 risen about an hour before; the heat would soon 

 become oppressive, and the sybaritic beetle, with- 

 out attending to his morning appetite, which his 

 fresh meal could not fail to excite, nourishes the 

 bourgeois dream of making his little pile in order to 

 enjoy himself sheltered from the hot rays. Imme- 

 diately on arriving on the scene of the accident each 

 began to display feverish activity. All set to work. 



Fig. 14. 



With their heads, the anterior edge of which is flat 

 and supplied with six strong spines, they raised their 

 provisions; with their anterior feet, which are large 

 and also armed with spines, they moulded the paste 

 and placed it beneath the abdomen between the four 

 other legs, giving it a rounded form. Little by 

 little the sphere increased and acquired the size of a 

 small apple. That was sufficiently large, and besides 

 it was already becoming hot. The insect set about 

 carting away his prize to a sheltered dining-room. 



