168 
LABOURS OF THE INSECT 
on the needle-point your admirable insect-hunter, the efficacious auxil¬ 
iary of the agriculturist! 
The carabi,—immense warrior-tribes armed 
to the very teeth, and displaying an ardent 
activity beneath their heavy coats of mail,— 
are the true guardians of your fields; and day 
and night, without holiday or repose, protect 
your crops. They themselves never touch the 
smallest blade or seed. Their sole occupation 
is to capture thieves, and they ask for no 
other reward than the thieves’ bodies. 
Others toil underground. The innocent 
lobworm, which pierces and stirs up the soil, 
gets ready in a marvellously excellent manner 
the muddy and clayey earths which are de¬ 
ficient in evaporation. Others, in company 
with the mole, hunt far down in the depths 
the cruel enemy of agriculture, the horribly 
voracious larva of the destructive cockchafer, 
which, for three years, has been preying on 
the roots beneath the surface. 
The insectivorous insects put forth undeni¬ 
able claims to the protection of man, whose 
allies they are. But even among the lier- 
bivora there are useful destroyers of harmful 
plants. The useless, pungent, and in every 
sense disagreeable nettle, which scarcely a 
single quadruped will deign to touch, fifty 
species of insects, in fellowship with our¬ 
selves, labour to destroy. 
A very beautiful class of insects, some rich 
in outward garb, and others in intelligence, 
are the Necrojphori , which render us the important service of clearing 
away all dead matter from the soil. Nature, which finds them so 
