And here is a still more conclusive argument: among the Anthidia,[5] those Bees who weave cotton-stuffs or knead resin, the male, though much larger than the female, is an absolute idler. He, so strong, so stout of limb, take part in the work! Never! Let the mother, the feeble mother, wear herself out while he, powerful fellow that he is, frolics among the speedwell and the lavender.
It is not physical strength, therefore, that has made the Geotrupian paterfamilias into a worker devoted to his children’s welfare. And this is as much as our [[220]]investigations tell us. To pursue the problem would be a vain endeavour. The origin of faculties escapes us. Why is this gift bestowed here and that gift there? Who knows? Can we indeed ever hope to know?
One point alone stands out clearly: instinct is not dependent on structure.
The Geotrupes have been known from time immemorial; conscientious entomologists, peering through their magnifying-glasses, have examined them down to their smallest details; and no one has yet suspected their marvellous privilege of keeping house in common. Above the monotonous level of the ocean suddenly emerge the headlands of lonely little islands, scattered here and there, whose existence none can suspect until geography has added them to her charts. Even so do the peaks of instinct rear their crests above the ocean of life. [[221]]
[1] ·273 to ·312 × ·156 inch.—Translator’s Note. [↑]
[2] Johann Leonhard Frisch (1666–1743), a Lutheran clergyman, lexicologist and natural historian and member of the Berlin Academy. His Beschreibung von allerlei Insecten in Deutschland was published in 1720 to 1738.—Translator’s Note. [↑]
[3] Martial Étienne Mulsant (1797–1880), professor of natural history at the Lycée de Lyon; author of Histoire naturelle des coléoptères de France (1839–1846) and other entomological works.—Translator’s Note. [↑]
[4] Cf. The Life of the Grasshopper: chaps. vi. to ix.—Translator’s Note. [↑]
[5] Cf. Bramble-bees and Others: chaps. ix. and x.—Translator’s Note. [↑]