238 THE LIFE AND LOVE OF THE INSECT 



Let us watch the male, who hurries away backwards, 

 very proud of his conquest. Other females are met, who 

 form an audience and look on inquisitively, perhaps 

 enviously. One of them flings herself upon the ravished 

 bride, embraces her -^ith her legs and makes an effort 

 to stop the equipage. The male exhausts himself in 

 attempts to overcome this resistance ; in vain he shakes, 

 in vain he pulls : the thing won't go. Undistressed by 

 the accident, he throws up the game. A neighbour is 

 there, close by. Cutting parley short, this time with- 

 out any further declaration, he takes her hands and 

 invites her to a stroll. She protests, releases herself and 

 runs aM'av. 



From among the group of onlookers, a second is 

 solicited, in the same free and easy manner. She accepts, 

 but there is nothing to tell us that she will not escape 

 from her seducer on the way. But what does the cox- 

 comb care ? There are more where she came from ! 

 And what does he want, when all is said ? The first- 

 comer ! 



This first-comer he ends by finding, for here he is, 

 leading his conquest by the hand. He passes into the 

 belt of light. Exerting all his strength, he makes jerky 

 movements of drawing towards him, if the other refuse 

 to come, but behaves with gentleness, when he obtains a 

 docile obedience. Pauses, sometimes rather prolonged, 

 are frequent. 



Then the male indulges in curious exercises. Bringing 

 his claws, or let us say, his arms towards him and then 

 again stretching them straight out, he compels the female 

 to play a similar alternate game. The two of them form a 

 system of jointed rods, or lazy-tongs, opening and closing 

 their quadrilateral turn and turn about. After this 



