iddle. Let us rear the insect, collect its eggs; then the pottery
will tell us the secret of its beginnings.

I install three species of Clythrae under wire-gauze covers, each with
a bed of sand and a bottle of water containing a few young
ilex-shoots, which I renew as and when they fade. All three species
are common on the holm-oak: they are the Long-legged Clythra (_C.
longipes_, FAB.), the Four-spotted Clythra (_C. quadripunctata_,
LIN.), and the Taxicorn Clythra (_C. taxicornis_, FAB.).

I set up a second menagerie with some Cryptocephali, who are closely
related to the Clythrae. The inmates are the Ilex Cryptocephalus (_C.
ilicis_, OLIV.), the Two-spotted Cryptocephalus (_C. bipunctatus_,
LIN.) and the Golden Cryptocephalus (_C. hypochoeridis_, LIN.), who
wears a resplendent costume. For the first two I provide sprigs of
ilex; for the third, the heads of a centaury (_Centaurea aspera_),
which is the favourite plant of this living gem.

There is nothing striking in the habits of my captives, who spend the
morning very quietly, the first five browsing on their oak-leaves and
the sixth on her centaury-blooms. When the sun grows hot, they fly
from the bunch of leaves in the centre to the wire trellis and back
from the trellis to the leaves, or wander about the top of the cage in
a state of great excitement.

Every moment couples are formed. They pester each other, pair without
preliminaries, part without regrets and begin elsewhere all over
again. Life is sweet; and there are enough for all to choose from.
Several are persistent. Mounted on the back of the patient female, who
lowers her head and seems untouched by the passionate storm, they
shake her violently. Thus do the amorous insects declare their flame
and win the consent of the hesitating fair.

The attitude of the couple now tells us the use of a certain organic
detail peculiar to the Clythra. In several species, though not in all,
the males' fore-legs are of inordinate length. What is the object of
these extravagant arms, these curious grappling-irons out of all
proportion to the insect's size? The Grasshoppers and Locusts prolong
their hind-legs into levers to assist them in leaping. There is
nothing of the sort here: it is the fore-legs which are exaggerated;
and their excessive length has nothing to do with locomotion. The
insect, whether resting or walking, seems even to be embarrassed by
these outrageous stilts, which it bends awkwardly and tucks awa