The Spotted Larinus 
opening of the shaft with the tip of her 
belly and lays the egg. But how? The 
pregnant insect’s abdomen is far too large 
and too blunt to enter the narrow passage 
and deposit the egg directly at the bottom. 
A special tool, a probe carrying the egg to 
‘the point required, is therefore absolutely 
needed here. But the insect does not possess 
one that shows; and things take place so 
swiftly and discreetly that I see nothing of 
that kind unsheathed. 
No matter, I am positively convinced of it: 
to place the egg at the bottom of the shaft 
which the rostrum has just bored, the mother 
must possess a guide-rod, a rigid tube, kept 
in reserve, invisible, among her tools. We 
shall return to this curious subject when more 
conclusive instances arise. 
One first point is gained: the Weevil’s ros- 
trum, that nose which at first sight was 
deemed grotesque, is in reality an instrument 
of maternal love. ‘The extravagant becomes 
the everyday, the indispensable. Since it 
carries mandibles and other mouth-parts at 
its tip, its function is to eat, that is self- 
evident; but to this function is added another 
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