The Life of the Grasshopper 



concerning the love-affairs of the Mantis 

 when at large. I can only go by what hap- 

 pens in the cages, where the captives, enjoy- 

 ing plenty of sunshine and food and spacious 

 quarters, do not seem to suffer from home- 

 sickness in any way. What they do here they 

 must also do under normal conditions. 



Well, what happens there utterly refutes 

 the idea that the males are given time to 

 escape. I find, by themselves, a horrible 

 couple engaged as follows. The male, 

 absorbed in the performance of his vital 

 functions, holds the female in a tight em- 

 brace. But the wretch has no head; he 

 has no neck; he has hardly a body. The 

 other, with her muzzle turned over her 

 shoulder continues very placidly to gnaw what 

 remains of the gentle swain. And, all the 

 time, that masculine stump, holding on 

 firmly, goes on with the business ! 



Love is stronger than death, men say. 

 Taken literally, the aphorism has never re- 

 ceived a more brilliant confirm-^tion. A 

 headless creature, an insect amputated down 

 to the middle of the chest, a very corpse per- 

 sists in endeavouring to give life. It will 

 not let go until the abdomen, the seat of the 

 procreative organs, is attacked. 



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