The Iris-Weevil 
Ant; we know that the Cicada sings, without 
having a very exact notion of the singer, who 
is confused with others; we have perhaps 
vouchsafed a careless glance to the splen- 
dours of the Butterflies; and with this, for 
the immense majority, entomology begins 
and ends. What layman would risk naming 
an insect, even one of the more remarkable? 
The Provencal peasant, who is pretty quick 
at observing things that have to do with the 
land, has a dozen expressions at the very 
most to denominate indiscriminately the vast 
world of insects, though he possesses a very 
rich vocabulary by which to describe plants. 
This or that bit of weed which one would 
think was known only to the botanists is to 
him a familiar object and bears a special 
name of its own. 
Now the vegetarian insect is, as a rule, 
scrupulously faithful to its food-plant, so 
that, with botany and entomology going hand 
in hand, the beginner is spared many a hesita- 
tion. The plant exploited gives the name 
of the exploiting insect. Who, for instance, 
does not know the splendid yellow iris? 
The green cutlasses of its leaves and its 
yellow cluster of flowers are mirrored in the 
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