the two Scoliae, the problem would be half solved. Let us try. I collect
all that the luchet has turned up: larvae, nymphs and adult Beetles. My
booty comprises two species of Lamellicorns: Anoxia villosa and Euchlora
Julii, both of whom I find in the perfect state, usually dead, but
sometimes alive. I obtain a few of their nymphs, a great piece of luck, for
the larval skin which accompanies them will serve me as a standard of
comparison. I come upon plenty of larvae, of all ages. When I compare them
with the cast garment abandoned by the nymphs, I recognize some as
belonging to the Anoxia and the rest to the Euchlora.

With these data, I perceive with absolute certainty that the empty skin
adhering to the cocoon of the Interrupted Scolia belongs to the Anoxia. As
for the Euchlora, she is not involved in the problem: the larva hunted by
the Two-banded Scolia does not belong to her any more than it belongs to
the Anoxia. Then with which Scarabaeid does the empty skin which is still
unknown to me correspond? The Lamellicorn whom I am seeking must exist in
the ground which I have been exploring, because the Two-banded Scolia has
established herself there. Later--oh, very long afterwards!--I recognized
where my search was at fault. In order not to find a network of roots
beneath my luchet and to render the work of excavation lighter, I was
digging the bare places, at some distance from the thickets of holm-oak;
and it was just in those thickets, which are rich in vegetable mould, that
I should have sought. There, near the old stumps, in the soil consisting of
dead leaves and rotting wood, I should certainly have come upon the larva
so greatly desired, as will be proved by what I have still to say.

Here ends what my earlier investigations taught me. There is reason to
believe that the Bois des Issards would never have furnished me with the
precise data, in the form in which I wanted them. The remoteness of the
spot, the fatigue of the expeditions, which the heat rendered intensely