Fabre. It happens sometimes, according to this ingenious observer,
that a cunning Scarabaeus, who has taken no part in the laborious
labour of moulding the paste, arrives when it is on the road to aid
the convoy, or even simply to pretend to help, in order that when the
moment has come he may claim a share in the coveted meal, or even
carry it all away if he can profit by a momentary inattention on the
part of the lawful proprietor. I followed one of these Coleoptera for
more than five metres from the place where his labour began. After
having deposited his ball he began to dig up the earth around it;[55]
but the mules had returned and I was obliged to depart.

[54] J. H. Fabre, _Souvenirs entomologiques_, 1879.

[55] In captivity also, as Mrs. Brightwen found, the
Scarabaeus always attempts to bury its ball in the earth.

I have no doubt that subsequent events were not exactly the same as
narrated by Fabre for the Scarabaeus of Provence. The insect having
made his hole, buries himself in it for a _tete a tete_ with the
precious sphere. He immediately sets about passing the whole through
his body. Without haste but without rest, for a week or a fortnight,
as long as there is any of it left, he eats continuously, and
continuously digests. He does not stop for a moment, his jaws are
working the whole time; and Fabre has called attention to the fact
that from the opposite extremity of the animal a continuous thread
emerges without breaking, and becomes coiled up.

_Care bestowed on harvested provisions._--Among the animals who take
particular care of the provisions they have amassed, special mention
must be made of certain species of Ants. It was formerly believed that
these industrious Hymenoptera are not accustomed to store up in barns
for the winter. This opinion long prevailed owing to the authority of
Huber, so competent in these matters, although the ancients were well
acquainted with the storehouses of ants.[56] But it was founded on an
exclusive study of these insects in northern countries, in which,
during the cold season, they become torpid and buried in their
hybernal sleep. Naturally they have no need of food during this
period, but it was incorrect to generalise from this fact. The ants of
the south are active all the year round. An English naturalist,
Moggridge, who passed several winters at Mentone, has placed this fact
out of doubt. Suffering from an incurable disease, he occupied the
last