The Life of the Weevil 
size, a not very important characteristic, 
from the Larini born in the regular cell. 
He has thriven on the axilla of the leaf as 
he would have done on the thistle-head. 
Let us admit that the accident is repeated, 
that it even becomes a normal condition; let 
us suppose that the mother decides to 
abandon her blue balls and to confide her 
eggs to the axille of the leaves indefinitely. 
What will this change bring about? The 
answer is obvious. 
Since the grub has once developed without 
hindrance on a site alien to its habits, it will 
continue to thrive there from generation to 
generation; with its intestinal cement it will 
continue to shape a protective pitcher of the 
same pattern as the old, but, for want of 
materials, lacking the thatch of withered 
florets; in short, its talents will remain what 
they were in the beginning. 
This example tells us that the insect, as 
long as it can accommodate itself to the novel 
conditions imposed upon it, works in its 
accustomed fashion; if it cannot do so, it dies 
rather than change its methods. 
