The Life of the Grasshopper 



fluttering nor their kicking will make the ter- 

 rible engine release its hold. 



An uninterrupted study of the Mantis' 

 habits is not practicable in the open fields; 

 we must rear her at home. There is no 

 difficulty about this : she does not mind being 

 interned under glass, on condition that she 

 be well fed. Offer her choice viands, served 

 up fresh daily, and she will hardly feel her 

 absence from the bushes. 



As cages for my captives I have some ten 

 large wire-gauze dish-covers, the same that 

 are used to protect meat from the Flies. 

 Each stands in a pan filled with sand. A dry 

 tuft of thyme and a flat stone on which the 

 laying may be done later constitute all the 

 furniture. These huts are placed in a row 

 on the large table in my insect laboratory, 

 where the sun shines on them for the best 

 part of the day. I instal my captives in 

 them, some singly, some in groups. 



It is in the second fortnight of August that 

 I begin to come upon the adult Mantis in the 

 withered grass and on the brambles by the 

 road-side. The females, already notably 

 corpulent, are more frequent from day to 

 day. Their slender companions, on the 

 other hand, are rather scarce; and I some- 

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