The Life of the Weevil 
if it ceases to prolong its shaft as soon as 
it perceives, by sounding it now and again, 
that the ceiling is thin enough, what ought 
to happen under the present conditions? 
Feeling that it is as near the surface as it 
wishes to be, the grub will stop boring; it 
will respect the last layer of the bare pea and 
will thus obtain the indispensable defensive 
screen. : 
Nothing of the kind takes place. The 
well is excavated entirely; its mouth is open 
to the outside, as wide, as carefully finished 
as though the skin of the pea were still 
protecting it. Reasons of safety have in no 
way modified the usual work. The foe can 
enter this open lodging; the grub gives the 
matter not a thought. 
Nor has it this in mind when it refrains 
from boring right through the pea still clad 
in its skin. It stops suddenly, because it 
does not like the non-farinaceous skin. We 
remove the skins before making our peas into 
soup: they have no culinary value; they are 
not good. The larva of the Bruchus appears 
to be like ourselves: it hates the tough out- 
side of the pea. Warned by the unpleasant 
taste, it stops at the skin; and this aversion 
258 
