The Empusa 



the tenderest and most succulent morsels are 

 chosen ? No, for the belly is certainly more 

 juicy; and the Empusa refuses it, though she 

 eats up her House-fly to the last particle. 

 It is a strategy of war. I am again in the 

 presence of a neck-specialist as expert as the 

 Mantis herself in the art of swiftly slaying 

 a victim that struggles and, in struggling, 

 spoils the meal. 



Once warned, I soon perceive that the 

 game, be it Fly, Locust, Grasshopper or 

 Butterfly, is invariably struck in the neck, 

 from behind. The first bite is aimed at the 

 point containing the cervical ganglia and 

 produces sudden death or immobility. Com- 

 plete inertia will leave the consumer in 

 peace, the essential condition of every satis- 

 factory repast. 



The Devilkin, therefore, frail though she 

 be, possesses the secret of immediately de- 

 stroying the resistance of her prey. She 

 bites^ at the back of the neck first, in order 

 to give the finishing stroke. She goes on 

 nibbling around the original attacking-point. 

 In this way,- the Butterfly's head and the 

 upper part of the breast are disposed of. 

 But, by that time, the huntress is surfeited : 

 she wants so little! The rest lies on the 



199 



