MEMTPTERA. lO/ 



The consequence is that the southern nations know it very well, 

 whilst in the north the large grasshopper, which is so common in those 

 regions, and whose song closely resembles that of the Cicada, is 

 commonly taken for it. There was to be seen at the Exhibition of 

 Fine Arts in 1866 a picture by M. Aussandon, "La Cigale et la 

 Fourmi," which showed, under an allegorical shape, the subject of La 

 Fontaine's fable. The painter here represented the Cigale, or Cicada, 

 under the form of a magnificent apple-green grasshopper. The artist 



Fig. 81.— Larva of the Cicada. Fig. 82.— Pupa of the Cicada. 



materialised here, as we may say, the common mistake of the inhabi- 

 tants of the north, which makes tliem confound the Cicada with the 

 great green grasshopper. 



For the rest, we may, by-the-by, say that La Fontaine's fable of 

 " La Cigale et la Fourmi " is full of errors in natural history. Nothing 

 is easier than to prove the truth of this assertion. From the very 

 fii'st verges, the author shows that he has never observed the animal 

 of which he speaks. 



* * La Cigale ayant chante 

 Tout I'ete." 



No Cicada could sing " tout I'ete," since it lives at the utmost for 

 a few weeks only. 



** Se trouva fort depourvue 

 Quand la bise fut venue." 



' Quand la bise fut venue " means without doubt the month of 

 November or December. But at this season of the year the Cicada 

 has a long time since passed from life to death. When one wanders 

 along the outskirts of woods as early as the month of October, in the 

 south of France, one finds the soil covered with dead Cicadas. La 

 Fontaine's Cigale then could not have found itself " fort depourvue," 

 for the simple reason that it was already dead. 



" Elle alia crier famine 

 Chez la Fourmi, sa voisine, 

 La priant de lui prefer 

 Quelque grain pour subsisted" 



