The Life of the Weevil 
it to the wood, on which it feeds for the next 
three years. The Cetonia’s, born in a heap 
of decomposed vegetable matter, has its food 
ready to its mouth, without seeking. 
With such primitive habits as_ these, 
which emancipate the family at birth, with- 
out the least previous training, how far re- 
moved are we from the maternal tenderness 
of the Copris,? the Necrophorus,? the 
Sphex® and so many others! Apart from 
these privileged tribes, there is nothing very 
striking to be noted. It is enough to fill with 
despair the observer in search of facts really 
worth recording. 
The children, it is true, often make up to 
us for their untalented mothers. Their in- 
genuity is sometimes amazing, from the time 
when they are hatched. Witness our Larini. 
What can the mother do? Nothing but 
bury the eggs in the blossoms of the thistles. 
But what a singular industry on the part of 
the grub which builds itself a thatched hut, 
upholsters itself a cabin, cards itself a mat- 
1Cf. The Sacred Beetle and Others: chaps. ix., x. and 
xvi.—Translator’s Note. 
2Or Burying-beetle. Cf. The Glow-worm and Other 
Beetles: chaps. xi. and xii—Translator’s Note. 
3Cf. The Hunting Wasps: chaps. iv. to x.—Trans- 
lator’s Note. 
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