elephant-beetle

_ -- The chief natural enemy of this tree is a destructive species of elephant-beetle (_Oryctes Rhinoceros_), which begins by nibbling the leaves into the shape of a fan; it then perforates the central pithy fibre, so that the leaf snaps off; and lastly, it descends into the folds of the upper shoot, where it bores itself a nest, and if not speedily extracted or killed, will soon destroy the tree.

The Commercial Products of the Vegetable Kingdom Considered in Their Various Uses to Man and in Their Relation to the Arts and Manufactures; Forming a Practical Treatise & Handbook of Reference for the Colonist, Manufacturer, Merchant, and Consumer, on the Cultivation, Preparation for Shipment, and Commercial Value, &c. of the Various Substances Obtained From Trees and Plants, Entering into the Husbandry of Tropical and Sub-tropical Regions, &c. P. L. Simmonds

Shod with adhesive sandals which later on, in my laboratory, will allow it rapidly to climb a vertical sheet of glass, the elephant-beetle is solidly established on the smooth, steep curvature of the acorn.

Social Life in the Insect World Jean-Henri Fabre 1869

The elephant-beetle certainly does not lay its egg in the open and seize it in its beak.

Social Life in the Insect World Jean-Henri Fabre 1869

More than the jay, more than the field-mouse, the elephant-beetle has contributed to reduce the superfluity of acorns.

Social Life in the Insect World Jean-Henri Fabre 1869

Such nutriment, juicy and easy of digestion, like all nascent organic matter, is only found in this particular spot; and it is only there, between the cup and the base of the cotyledons, that the elephant-beetle establishes her egg.

Social Life in the Insect World Jean-Henri Fabre 1869

So again we will ask: by what process did the egg of the elephant-beetle reach a point so far from the orifice in the acorn?

Social Life in the Insect World Jean-Henri Fabre 1869

Like the artisans in our factories, the elephant-beetle is sometimes the victim of her tools.

Social Life in the Insect World Jean-Henri Fabre 1869

The elephant-beetle undoubtedly draws the same conclusions.

Social Life in the Insect World Jean-Henri Fabre 1869

My embarrassment will be shared by all readers who are acquainted with the structure of the elephant-beetle.

Social Life in the Insect World Jean-Henri Fabre 1869