The Life of the Weevil 
part consumed. ‘True, when it has grown 
stronger, the larva bites deeper and digs in 
the fleshy receptacle a little pit that will 
serve as the foundation of its future cell. 
The waste products of nutrition are pushed 
backwards, where they set in a hard lump, 
held in position by the palisade of the hairs. 
A modest scale of diet, when all is said: 
half a dozen unripe seeds and a few mouth- 
fuls taken from the cake consisting of the 
receptacle. These peaceful creatures must 
derive singular benefit from their food to 
acquire such plumpness so cheaply. An un- 
disturbed and temperate diet is better than 
an uneasy feast. 
Two or three weeks devoted to these 
pleasures of the table and our grub has 
become a fat baby. Then the blissful 
consumer becomes a craftsman. The placid 
gratification of the belly is followed by the 
worries of the future. We have to build 
ourselves a castle in which to effect the 
metamorphosis. 
From all around it the grub collects hairs, 
which it chops into fragments of different 
lengths. It places them in position with the 
tip of its mandibles, butts them with its head 
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