The Spotted Larinus 
tions it between two implements, one of 
which, in front, is the perforating augur and 
the other, behind, hidden in the body and 
unsheathed at the moment of the laying, is 
the guiding tube. Except in the Weevils, 
this curious mechanism is unknown to me. 
When the egg is placed in position—and 
this is quickly done, thanks to the preliminary 
work of the drill—the mother returns to the 
point colonized. She packs the disturbed 
materials a little, she lightly pushes back the 
uprooted florets; then, without taking further 
trouble, she goes away. She sometimes even 
dispenses with these precautions. 
A few hours later, I examine the heads 
exploited, which may be recognized by a 
certain number of faded and slightly pro- 
jecting patches, each of which shelters an egg. 
With the point of my penknife I extract the 
little, faded bundle and open it. At the 
base, in a small round cell, hollowed out of 
the substance of the central globule, the re- 
ceptacle of the thistle-head, is the egg, fairly 
large, yellow and oval. 
It is enveloped in a brown substance 
derived from the tissues injured by the 
mother’s augur and from the exudations of 
gi 
