THE GREY LOCUST 301 



of a coat, the maker of which has been ludicrously stingy 

 with the cloth, as they merely cover the creature's naked- 

 ness at the small of the back. Underneath there are two 

 narrow appendages, the germs of the wings, which are 

 even smaller than the elytra. The sumptuous, elegant 

 sails of to-morrow are now mere rags, so miserly in their 

 dimensions as to be absolutely grotesque. What will 

 emerge from these miserable coverings ? A miracle of 

 grace and amplitude. 



Let us observe the whole process in detail. Feeling 

 itself ripe for transformation, the insect climbs up the 

 wire-gauze cover by means of its hinder and inter- 

 mediate limbs. The fore-limbs are folded and crossed 

 on the breast, and are not employed in supporting the 

 insect, which hangs in a reversed position, the back 

 downwards. The triangular winglets, the sheaths of the 

 elytra, open along their line of juncture and separate 

 laterally ; the two narrow blades, which contain the 

 wings, rise in the centre of the interval and slightly 

 diverge. The proper position for the process of moult- 

 ing has now been assumed and the proper stability 

 assured. 



The first thing to do is to burst the old skin. Behind 

 the corselet, under the pointed roof of the prothorax, a 

 series of pulsations is produced by alternate inflation and 

 deflation. A similar state of affairs is visible in front of 

 the neck, and probably under the entire surface of the 

 yielding carapace. The fineness of the membrane at 

 the articulations enables us to perceive it at these un- 

 armoured points, but the cuirass of the corselet conceals 

 it in the central portion. 



At these points the circulatory reserves of the insect 



