The Life of the Grasshopper 



young Grasshoppers, are readily accepted. 

 Unfortunately, such wind-falls do not often 

 find their way into my sweeping-net. Absti- 

 nence becomes obligatory until the arrival 

 of the first Butterflies. Henceforth, Pieris 

 brassica, the White Cabbage Butterfly, will 

 contribute the greater portion of the victuals. 



Let loose in the wire cage, the Pieris 

 is regarded as excellent game. The Empusa 

 lies in wait for her, seizes her, but releases 

 her at once, lacking the strength to over- 

 power her. The Cabbage Butterfly's great 

 wings, beating the air, give her shock after 

 shock and compel her to let go. I come to 

 the weakling's assistance and cut the wings of 

 her prey with my scissors. The maimed 

 ones, still full of life, clamber up the trellis- 

 work and are forthwith grabbed by the Em- 

 puss, who, in no way frightened by their 

 protests, crunch them up. The dish is to 

 their taste and, moreover, plentiful, so much 

 so that there are always some despised 

 remnants. 



The head only and the upper portion of 

 the breast are devoured : the rest — the plump 

 abdomen, the best part of the thorax, the 

 legs and lastly, of course, the wing-stumps — 

 is flung aside untouched. Does this mean that 



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