'Do black-beetles bite?
But that isn't the point.

Are you afraid of their biting, or is it a metaphysical antipathy ?' The girl was looking full upon him all the time with inchoate eyes.
'Oh, I think they're beastly, they're horrid,' she cried.

'If I see one, it gives me the creeps all over.

If one were to crawl on me, I'm SURE I should die--I'm sure I should.' 'I hope not,' whispered the young Russian.
'I'm sure I should, Maxim,' she asseverated.
'Then one won't crawl on you,' said Gerald, smiling and knowing.

In some strange way he understood her.
'It's metaphysical, as Gerald says,' Birkin stated.
There was a little pause of uneasiness.
'And are you afraid of nothing else, Pussum ?' asked the young Russian, in his quick, hushed, elegant manner.
'Not weally,' she said.