The Life of the Grasshopper 



larva," as I did in the case of the Oil-beetles, 

 the Leucospes and the Anthrax. 1 



The form of the primary larva in the 

 Cicadae is eminently well-suited for the emer- 

 gence. The passage in which the egg is 

 hatched is very narrow and leaves just room 

 for one to go out. Besides, the eggs are ar- 

 ranged in a row, not end to end, but partly 

 overlapping. The creature coming from the 

 farther ranks has to make its way through 

 the remains of the eggs already hatched in 

 front of it. To the narrowness of the cor- 

 ridor is added the block caused by the empty 

 shells. 



In these conditions, the larva in the form 

 which it will have presently, when it has torn 

 its temporary scabbard, would not be able 

 to clear the difficult pass. Irksome antennae, 

 long legs spreading far from the axis of the 

 body, picks with curved and pointed ends that 

 catch on the road : all these are in the way 

 of a speedy deliverance. The eggs in one 

 cell hatch almost simultaneously. It is ne- 

 cessary that the new-born grubs in front 

 should move out as fast as they can and make 



1 Cf. The Life of the Fly, by J. Henri Fabre, translated 

 by Alexander Teixeira de Mattos: chaps, ii, iii and v. — 

 Translator's Note. 



100 



