timate aim of the insect, which becomes transfigured for this
solemn function and then dies, having no more to do.

A curious book might be written on the subject of love among the
beasts. Long ago the subject tempted me. For a quarter of a century my
notes have been slumbering, dustily, in a corner of my library. I
extract from them the following details concerning the Cantharides. I
am not the first, I know, to describe the amorous preludes of the
Meloid of the Ash-tree; but the change of narrator may give the
narrative a certain value: it confirms what has already been said and
throws light upon some points which may have escaped notice.

A female Cantharides is peacefully nibbling her leaf. A lover comes
upon the scene, approaches her from behind, suddenly mounts upon her
back and embraces her with his two pairs of hind-legs. Then with his
abdomen, which he lengthens as much as possible, he energetically
slaps that of the female, on the right side and the left by turns. It
is like the strokes of a washerwoman's bat, delivered with frenzied
rapidity. With his antennae and his fore-legs, which remain free, he
furiously lashes the neck of the victim. While the blows fall thick as
hail, in front and behind, the head and corselet of the amorous swain
are shaken by an extravagant swaying and trembling. You would think
that the creature was having an epileptic fit.

Meanwhile, the beloved makes herself small, opening her wing-cases
slightly, hiding her head and tucking her abdomen under her, as though
to escape the erotic thunderstorm that is bursting upon her back. But
the paroxysm calms down. The male extends his fore-legs, shaken by a
nervous tremor, like the arms of a cross and in this ecstatic posture
seems to call upon the heavens to witness the ardour of his desires.
The antennae and the belly are held motionless, in a straight line;
the head and the corselet alone continue to heave rapidly up and down.
This period of repose does not last long. Short as it is, the female,
her appetite undisturbed by the passionate protestations of her wooer,
imperturbably resumes the nibbling of her leaf.

Another paroxysm bursts forth. Once more the male's blows rain upon
the neck of the tightly-clasped victim, who hastens to bow her head
upon her breast. But he has no intention of allowing his lady-love to
escape. With his fore-legs, using a special notch placed at the
juncture of the leg and the tarsus, he seizes both her ante