In the primordial back of my mind I remembered an old Analog Magazine story, called "Green-eyed Lady, Laughing Lady". After extensive trips to Google, I found it in the March 1st, 1982 issue, which is currently buried behind 28 years of sedimentary junk in my older son's room. It was written by Allison Tellure. Here is the cover:
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Basically there are these intelligent beetles on this planet. They are led by this old female beetle who has green eyes and hence the title. There also happens to be a nearby huge creature, called Yd, in the waters surrounding their coastal town who is very intelligent and is a respected member of their society (although the cover drawing certain portrays a completely different sort of relationship). When the leader is looking for advice, she goes to talk to Yd. Here is the amazing thing - Yd eats very old beetles and immediately retains each one's knowledge and thus over the years has become a resource of information. When the leader beetle gets too old she knows, just like all the other leaders before her, that the correct thing to do, before she dies elsewhere, is to jump into Yd's mouth and get eaten in order to preserve everything she has learned. Yd has grown attached to this beetle and also knows he must do the task before him. Sort of poignant story. Dont know about that artwork though...you can't judge a book by it's cover!
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