LOCUSTS 



wells one after the other before finding a suitable place. 

 When at last the business is over, and the insect begins 

 to rise from the hole in which she is partly buried, one 

 can see that she is covering her eggs with milk-white 

 foam, similar to that of the Mantis. 



This foamy matter often forms a button at the en- 

 trance to the well, a knot which stands up and attracts 

 the eye by its whiteness against the grey background of 

 the soil. It is soft and sticky, but hardens pretty soon. 

 When this closing button is finished the mother moves 

 away and troubles no more about her eggs, of which she 

 lays a fresh batch elsewhere after a few days. 



Sometimes the foamy paste does not reach the sur- 

 face; it stops some way down, and before long is covered 

 with the sand that slips from the edge. But in the case 

 of my Locusts in captivity I always know, even when 

 it is concealed, exactly where the barrel of eggs lies. 

 Its structure is always the same, though there are varia- 

 tions in detail. It is always a sheath of solidified foam. 

 Inside, there is nothing but foam and eggs. The eggs 

 all lie in the lower portion, packed one on top of 

 another; and the upper part consists only of soft, yield- 

 ing foam. This portion plays an important part when 

 the young larvae are hatched. I will call it the ascend- 

 ing-shaft. 



The wonderful egg-casket of the Mantis is not the 

 result of any special talent which the mother can ex- 



[239] 



