Note 2 — Chapter IX · THE GEOTRUPES: THE PUBLIC HEALTH

In September and October, when the first autumn rains soak the ground and allow the Sacred Beetle to split his natal casket, Geotrupes Stercorarius and Geotrupes Hypocrita found their family-establishments, somewhat makeshift establishments, in spite of what we might have expected from the name of those miners, so well-styled Geotrupes, that is to say, “Earth-borers.” When he has to dig himself a retreat that shall shelter him against the rigours of winter, the Geotrupe really deserves his name: none can compare with him for the depth of the pit or the perfection and rapidity of the work. In sandy ground, easily excavated, I have dug up some that had attained the depth of a metre.2 Others carried their digging further still, tiring both my patience and my implements. There you have the skilled well-sinker, the incomparable Earth-borer. When the cold sets in, he can go down to some layer where frost has lost its terrors.