The Locusts: their Eggs 



sible, to see the perforating-tool, the four 

 gimlets, at work. Unfortunately, things 

 happen in the mysteries of the earth. No 

 rubbish rises to the surface; nothing de- 

 notes the underground labour. Little by 

 little the abdomen sinks softly in, as our 

 finger would sink into a lump of soft clay. 

 The four trepans must open the passage, 

 crumbling the earth into dust which is thrust 

 back sideways by the abdomen and packed 

 as with a gardener's dibble. 



The best site for laying the eggs is not 

 always found at the first endeavour. I have 

 seen the mother drive her abdomen right in 

 and make five wells one after the other be- 

 fore finding a suitable place. The pits 

 recognized as defective are abandoned as 

 soon as bored. They are vertical, cylindrical 

 holes, of the diameter of a thick lead-pencil 

 and astonishingly neat. No wimble would 

 produce cleaner work. Their length is that 

 of the insect's abdomen, distended as far 

 as the extension of the segments allows. 



At the sixth attempt, the spot is recognized 

 as propitious. The laying thereupon takes 

 place, but nothing outside betrays the fact, 

 so motionless does the mother seem, with 

 her abdomen immersed up to the hilt, ^v•hich 



385 



