Note 2 — Chapter II · THE CICADA: LEAVING THE BURROW

The orifices are round and nearly an inch in diameter. There is absolutely no rubbish around them, no mound of earth thrown up outside. This is invariably the case: the Cicada’s hole is never surmounted with a mole-hill, as are the burrows of the Geotrupes,2 or Dorbeetles, those other sturdy excavators. The manner of working accounts for this difference. The Dung-beetle progresses from the outside inwards; he commences his digging at the mouth of the well, which allows him to ascend and heap up on the surface the material which he has extracted. The larva of the Cicada, on the other hand, goes from the inside outwards; the last thing that it does is to open the exit-door, which, remaining closed until the very end of the work, cannot be used for getting rid of the rubbish. The former goes in and makes a mound on the threshold of the home; the latter comes out and cannot heap up anything on a threshold that does not yet exist.