The Life of the Grasshopper 



layings, the site changes, now here, now 

 there, as this or that spot Is deemed the more 

 propitious. 



When everything Is finished, I examine the 

 little pits In which the Dectlcus placed her \ 

 eggs. There are no packets In a foamy | 

 sheath, such as the Locust supplies; no cells j 

 either. The eggs He singly, without any pro- 

 tection. I gather three score as the total 

 product of one mother. They are of a pale j 

 lilac-grey and are drawn out shuttlewlse, In j 

 a narrow ellipsoid five or six millimetres I 

 long.^ . . i 



The same isolation marks those of the 

 Grey Dectlcus, which are black; those of the 

 Vine Ephlpplger, which are ashen-grey; and 

 those of the Alpine Analota, which are pale- 

 lilac. The eggs of the Green Grasshopper, | 

 which are a very dark olive-brown and, like 

 those of the White-faced Dectlcus, about j 

 sixty In number, are sometimes arranged * 

 singly and sometimes stuck together In little 

 clusters. 



These different examples show^ us that the 

 Grasshoppers plant with a dibble. Instead 

 of packing their seeds In little casks of 

 hardened foam, like the Locusts, they put 



* .195 to .234 inch. — Translator's Note. 

 238 



