The Life of the Grasshopper 



No, it is not the Sparrow that makes it 

 necessary for the Cicada to give birth to so 

 numerous a progeny. The danger lies else- 

 where. We shall see how terrible it can be 

 at hatching- and also at laying-time. 



Two or three weeks after the emergence 

 from the ground, that is to say, about the 

 middle of July, the Cicada busies herself 

 with her eggs. In order to witness the lay- 

 ing without trusting too much to luck, I had 

 taken certain precautions which seemed to 

 me to assure success. The insect's favourite 

 support is the dry asphodel: I had learnt 

 that from earlier observations. This plant is 

 also the one that lends itself best to my 

 plans, owing to its long, smooth stalk. Now, 

 during the first years of my residence here, 

 I replaced the thistles in my enclosure by 

 other native plants, of a less forbidding 

 character. The asphodel is among the new 

 occupants and is just what I want to-day. I 

 therefore leave last year's dry stalks where 

 they are; and, when the proper season comes, 

 I inspect them daily. 



I have not long to wait. As early as the 

 1 5th of July, I find as many Cicadae as I 

 could wish installed on the asphodels, busily 

 laying. The mother is always alone. Each 



