HEMIPTERA. 10/ 



The consequence is that the southern nations know it very well, 

 vhilst in the north the large grasshopper, which is so common in those 

 egions, and whose song closely resembles that of the Cicada, is 

 :ommonly taken for it. There was to be seen at the Exhibition of 

 nne Arts in 1866 a picture by M. Aussandon, "La Cigale et la 

 ^urmi,'' which showed, under an allegorical shape, the subject of La 

 ^ntaine's fable. The painter here represented the Cigale, or Cicada, 

 mder the form of a magnificent apple-green grasshopper. The artist 



Fig. Si.— Larva of the Cicada. Fig. 82.— Pupa of the Cicada. 



laterialised here, as we may say, the common mistake of the inhabi- 

 mts of the north, which makes them confound the Cicada with the 

 reat green grasshopper. 



For the "rest, we may, by-the-by, say that La Fontaine's fable_ of 



La Cigale et la Fourmi " is full of errors in natural history. Nothing 



I easier than to prove the truth of this assertion. From the very 



rst verses, the author shows that he has never observed the animal 



f which he speaks. 



' ' La Cigale ayant chante 

 Tout I'ete." 



No Cicada could sing '' tout I'ete," since it lives at the utmost for 

 few weeks only. 



" Se trouva fort depourvue 

 Quand la bise fut venue." 



Quand la bise fut venue" means without doubt the month of 

 ovember or December. But at this season of the year the Cicada 

 is a long time since passed from life to death. When one wanders 

 >ng the outskirts of woods as early as the month of October, in the 

 th of France, one finds the soil covered with dead Cicadas. La 

 .ntaine's Cigale then could not have found itself " fort depourvue," 

 r the simple reason that it was already dead. 



" Elle alia crier famine 



Chez la Fourmi, sa voisine, 

 La priant de lui preter 

 Quelque grain pour subsister." 



