The Life of the Weevil 
the wherewithal to feed and grow. Not a 
bite is given elsewhere; and even so the 
attack is delivered with extreme discretion. 
The food is rasped and nibbled on the surface 
and not completely consumed. 
To make much out of nothing, to fill three 
starveling bellies, sometimes four, with a 
single crumb, would be out of the question. 
The secret of the food-supply is not 
contained in the small amount of solid mat- 
ter that has disappeared. Let us look into 
this more closely. 
I take out a few larve which are already 
fairly well-grown and install dwellings and 
dwellers in glass tubes. For a long time, 
with my pocket-lens, I watch the prisoners. 
I cannot see that they bite into the central 
knob, which is already damaged, nor the 
axis, which also has been cut into. From 
these surfaces, which have been scored since 
I know not how long; from what appeared to 
be their daily bread, their mandibles remove 
not the smallest particle. At most the 
mouth is applied for a moment to the sur- 
face; then it is withdrawn, uneasy and dis- 
dainful. It is evident that the ligneous fare, 
though still quite fresh, does not suit. 
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