TCD MS 10515 folio 92 verso
a beetle is dealing with a ball without the assistance of a partner, then the smooth, round pellet is constantly rolling down little hills and tumbling over slopes dragging its industrious owner into all kinds of difficulties*. The very rotundity of the pellet which is the endeavour of the beetle to attain, often lands its possessor into trouble or disaster. Now the other beetle by quietly clinging to the pellet acts as a check at each revolution; it forms, at every turn a wedge beneath the ball, and thus prevents it rolling away too precipitously and escaping the controll of the more energetic partner. Thus a single beetle rolls the mass along, either a smooth pellet or a pellet with its mate attached. Over the level
*and sometimes breaking away, becomes lost