The Life of the Grasshopper 



days' duration, the Praying Mantis will gob- 

 ble up a Grey Locust whole, except for the 

 wings, which are too dry; and yet the victim 

 of her voracity is as big as herself, or even 

 bigger. Two hours are enough for con- 

 suming this monstrous head of game. An 

 orgy of the sort is rare. I have witnessed 

 it once or twice and have always wondered 

 how the gluttonous creature found room for 

 so much food and how it reversed in its 

 favour the axiom that the cask must be 

 greater than its contents. I can but admire 

 the lofty privileges of a stomach through 

 which matter merely passes, being at once 

 digested, dissolved and done away with. 



The usual bill of fare in my cages con- 

 sists of Locusts of greatly varied species and 

 sizes. It is interesting to watch the Mantis 

 nibbling her Acridian, firmly held in the 

 grip of her two murderous fore-legs. Not- 

 withstanding the fine, pointed muzzle, 

 which seems scarcely made for this gorging, 

 the whole dish disappears, with the excep- 

 tion of the wings, of which only the slightly 

 fleshy base is consumed. The legs, the tough 

 skin, everything goes down. Sometimes the 

 Mantis seizes one of the big hinder thighs 

 by the knuckle-end, lifts it to her mouth, 



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