EARWIG. 
229 
beetle preserves its treasure by hiding it out of sight below 
ground, so this beetle no doubt secured the same end but 
by other means ; ‘ seeing,’ as Mr. Berkeley observes, ‘that 
if it did not hang up its prey, it might fall into the hands 
of other hunters, it took all possible pains to find out the 
best store-room for it.’ 
The above instances of beetle-intelligence lead me to 
credit the following, which has been communicated to me 
by Dr. Garraway, of Faversham. On a bank of moss in 
the Black Forest he saw a beetle alight with a caterpillar 
which it was carrying, and proceed to excavate a cylindrical 
hole in the peat, about an inch and a half deep, into which, 
when completed, it dropped the caterpillar, and then flew 
away through the pines. ‘I was struck,’ says my corre- 
spondent, 6 with the creature’s folly in leaving the whole 
uncovered, as every curious wayfaring insect would doubt- 
less be tempted to enter therein. However, in about a 
minute the beetle returned, this time carrying a small 
pebble, of which there were none in the immediate vicinity, 
and having carefully fitted this into the aperture, fled 
away into space.’ 
Earwig . 
I must devote a short division of this chapter to the 
earwig. M. Geer describes a regular process of incubation 
as practised by the mother insect. He placed one with 
her eggs in a box, and scattered the eggs on the floor of 
the latter. The earwig, however, carried them one by one 
into a certain part of the box, and then remained con- 
stantly sitting upon the heap without ever quitting it for 
a moment. When the eggs were hatched, the young ear- 
wigs kept close to their mother, following her about every- 
where, and often running under her abdomen, just as 
chickens run under a hen . 1 
A young lady, who objects to her name being published, 
informs me that her two younger sisters (children) are in 
the habit of feeding every morning with sugar an earwig, 
which they call ‘Tom,’ and which crawls up a certain 
curtain regularly every day at the same hour, with the 
apparent expectation of getting its breakfast. This re- 
1 Quoted by Bingley, loo. cit vol. iii.. pp. 150-51 
