The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Wonders of Instinct, by J. H. Fabre

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Title: The Wonders of Instinct

Author: J. H. Fabre

Posting Date: May 13, 2009 [EBook #3754]
Release Date: February, 2003
First Posted: August 21, 2001

Language: English

Character set encoding: ASCII

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THE WONDERS OF INSTINCT

CHAPTERS IN THE PSYCHOLOGY OF INSECTS

BY

J. H. FABRE

CONTENTS.

CHAPTER 1. THE HARMAS.

CHAPTER 2. THE GREEN GRASSHOPPER.

CHAPTER 3. THE EMPUSA.

CHAPTER 4. THE CAPRICORN.

CHAPTER 5. THE BURYING-BEETLES: THE BURIAL.

CHAPTER 6. THE BURYING-BEETLES: EXPERIMENTS.

CHAPTER 7. THE BLUEBOTTLE.

CHAPTER 8. THE PINE-PROCESSIONARY.

CHAPTER 9. THE SPIDERS.

CHAPTER 10. THE BANDED EPEIRA.

CHAPTER 11. THE EUMENES.

CHAPTER 12. THE OSMIAE.

CHAPTER 13. THE GLOW-WORM.

CHAPTER 14. THE CABBAGE-CATERPILLAR.

INDEX.

Note:--Chapters 5 and 6 have been translated by Mr. Bernard Miall; the
remainder by Mr. Alexander Teixeira de Mattos.

ILLUSTRATIONS.

THE HARMAS.
1. The author and his two daughters in the lilac-walk.
2. J.H. Fabre's house at Serignan.

THE EMPUSA.

INSECTS AT REST.
Bees and wasps asleep, extended in space by the strength of their
mandibles.

THE LARVA OF THE GREAT CAPRICORN.
1. The grub.
2. The grub digging its galleries in the trunk of the oak.

THE GREAT CAPRICORN: THE MALE AND THE FEMALE.

EXPERIMENTS.

EXPERIMENT 1. The mole is fixed fore and aft, with a lashing of raphia,
to a light horizontal cross-bar resting on two forks. The Necrophori,
after long tiring themselves in digging under the body, end by severing
the bonds.

EXPERIMENT 2. A dead mouse is placed on the branches of a tuft of
thyme. By dint of jerking, shaking and tugging at the body, the
Burying-beetles succeed in extricating it from the twigs and bringing
it down.

EXPERIMENT 3. With a ligament of raphia, the Mole is fixed by the hind
feet to a twig planted vertically in the soil. The head and shoulders
touch the ground. By digging under these