PAGE
PLATE I.—[1. The Sacred Beetle. 2. The Sacred Beetle rolling his pill. 3. Rolling the pill tothe eating burrow] Frontispiece
PLATE II.—[Burrow and pear-shaped ball of the Sacred Beetle] facing 20
Fig. 1.—[Section of the Sacred Beetle’s pill, showing the egg and the hatching-chamber] 24
PLATE III.—[1. The Sacred Beetle pushing away and overturning a thieving friend who tries to forcehis assistance upon him. 2. Crypt in which the Beetle shapes a grub’s provision intoa pear] facing 36
Fig. 2.—[The Sacred Beetle’s pill dug out cupwise to receive the egg] 39
Fig. 3.—[Grub of the Sacred Beetle] 46
Fig. 4.—[Digestive apparatus of the Sacred Beetle] 47
PLATE IV.—[1 and 2. The Spanish Copris, male and female. 3. The pair jointly kneading the bigload, which, divided into egg-shaped pills, will furnish provisions for each grubof the brood. 4. The mother alone in her burrow: five pills are already finished;a sixth is in process of construction] facing 72
Fig. 5.—[The Copris’s pill: first state] 72
Fig. 6.—[The Spanish Copris’s pill dug out cupwise to receive the egg] 73
Fig. 7.—[The Spanish Copris’s pill: section showing the hatching-chamber and the egg] 73
Fig. 8.—[Phanæus Milo] 102
Fig. 9.—[Work of Phanæus Milo. A, the whole piece, actual size. B, the same opened, showingthe pill of sausage-meat, the clay gourd, the chamber containing the egg and the ventilating-shaft] 104
Fig. 10.—[Work of Phanæus Milo: the largest of the gourds observed (natural size)] [[x]]108
PLATE V.—[1. Onthophagus Taurus. 2. Onthophagus Vacca. 3. The Stercoraceous Geotrupe. 4. The Wide-necked Scarab. 5. Cleonus Ophthalmicus. 6. Cerceris Tuberculata. 7. Buprestis Ærea] facing 80
Fig. 11.—[The Stercoraceous Geotrupe’s sausage] 121
Fig. 12.—[Section of the Stercoraceous Geotrupe’s sausage at its lower end, showing the eggand the hatching-chamber] 122
PLATE VI.—[Minotaurus Typhœus, male and female. Excavating Minotaurus’ burrow] facing 132
PLATE VII.—[The Minotaurus couple engaged on miller’s and baker’s work] facing 137
PLATE VIII.—[1. The Common or Garden Scolia. 2. The Two-banded Scolia. 3. Grub of Cetonia Aurata progressing on its back. 4. The Two-banded Scolia paralyzing a Cetonia grub. 5. Cetoniagrubs progressing on their backs, with their legs in the air; two are in a restingposition, rolled up] facing 146
PLATE IX.—[1. Lycosa Narbonensis. 2. The Ringed Calicurgus. 3. Ammophila Hirsuta. 4. Ammophila Sabulosa. 5. Scroll of Rhynchites Vitis. 6. Scroll of Rhynchites Populi] facing 162
PLATE X.—[The large glass case containing the Scorpions] facing 226
PLATE XI.—[1. Nuptial allurements, showing “the straight bend.” 2. The wedding stroll. 3. Thecouple enter the nuptial dwelling] facing 240
PLATE XII.—[1. The Languedocian Scorpion devouring a cricket. 2. After pairing-time: the femalefeasting on her Scorpion. 3. The mother and her family, with emancipation-time athand] facing 252

[[xi]]

THE SACRED BEETLE

[[1]]

[[Contents]]

THE LIFE AND LOVE OF
THE INSECT

CHAPTER I

THE SACRED BEETLE

The building of the nest, the safeguard of the family, furnishes the loftiest expression of the instinctive faculties. That ingenious architect, the bird, teaches us as much; and the insect, with its still more varied talents, repeats the lesson, telling us that maternity is the supreme inspirer of the instinct. Placed in charge of the duration of the species, which is of more serious interest than the preservation of individuals, maternity awakens a marvellous foresight in the drowsiest intelligence; it is the thrice sacred hearth wherein smoulder and then suddenly burst forth those incomprehensible psychic gleams which give us the impression of an infallible reasoning power. The more maternity asserts itself, the higher does instinct ascend.

The most worthy of our attention in this respect are the Hymenoptera, upon whom the cares of maternity devolve in their fulness. All these favourites of instinct prepare board and lodging for their offspring. They become past masters in a host of industries for the sake of a family which their faceted eyes never behold and [[2]]which, nevertheless, the maternal foresight knows quite well. One becomes a manufacturer of cotton goods and mills cotton-wool bottles; another sets up as a basket-maker and weaves hampers out of scraps of flowers; a third turns mason and builds rooms of cement and domes of road-metal; a fourth starts a pottery-works, in which the clay is kneaded into shapely vases and jars and bulging pots; yet another adopts the calling of a pitman and digs mysterious warm, moist passages underground. A thousand trades similar to ours and often even unknown to our industrial system are employed in the preparation of the abode. Next come the victuals of the expected nurslings: piles of honey, loaves of pollen, stores of preserved game, cunningly paralyzed. In such works as these, having the future of the family for their exclusive object, the highest manifestations of the instinct are displayed under the impulse of maternity.