The White-faced Decticus: his Habits 



mass is not let go for a moment, but is 

 munched, ground and kneaded by the insect's 

 mandibles and at last gulped down whole. 



At first I looked upon the horrible banquet 

 as no more than an individual aberration, an 

 accident: the Decticus' behaviour was so ex- 

 traordinary; no other instance of it was 

 known to me. But I have had to yield to the 

 evidence of the facts. Four times in success- 

 ion I surprised my captives dragging their 

 wallet and four times I saw them soon tear 

 it, work at it solemnly with their mandibles 

 for hours on end and finally gulp it down. 

 It is therefore the rule: when its contents 

 have reached their destination, the fertilizing 

 capsule, possibly a powerful stimulant, an 

 unparalleled dainty, is chewed, enjoyed and 

 swallowed. 



If this, as we are entitled to believe, is a 

 relic of ancient manners, we must admit that 

 the insect of old had singular customs. 

 Reaumur tells us of the startling operations 

 of the Dragon-flies when pairing. This 

 again is a nuptial eccentricity of primeval 

 times. 



When the Decticus has finished her strange 

 feast, the end of the apparatus still remains 

 in its place, the end whose most visible 

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