CHAPTER IX 



TWO STRANGE GRASSHOPPERS 



I 



THE EMPUSA 



THE sea, where life first appeared, still preserves 

 in its depths many of those curious shapes 

 which were the earliest specimens of the ani- 

 mal kingdom. But the land has almost entirely lost 

 the strange forms of other days. The few that remain 

 are mostly insects. One of these is the Praying Mantis, 

 whose remarkable shape and habits I have already 

 described to you. Another is the Empusa. 



This insect, in its undeveloped or larval state, is 

 certainly the strangest creature in all Provence : a slim, 

 swaying thing of so fantastic an appearance that unaccus- 

 tomed fingers dare not lay hold of it. The children of 

 my neighbourhood are so much impressed by its startling 

 shape that they call it "the Devilkin." They imagine 

 it to be in some way connected with witchcraft. One 

 comes across it, though never in great numbers, in the 

 spring up to May; in autumn; and sometimes in 

 winter if the sun be strong. The tough grasses of the 



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