The Locusts: the last Moult 



straight object would do, if sliding in a 

 loose sheath. The extraction-mechanism will 

 be still more remarkable in the case of the 

 hind-legs. 



Meanwhile it is the turn of the fore-legs 

 and then of the intermediary legs to shed 

 armlets and gauntlets, always without the 

 least rent, however small, without a crease 

 of rumpled material, without a trace of any 

 change in the natural position. The insect 

 is now fixed to the top of the cage only by 

 the claws of the long hind-legs. It hangs 

 perpendicularly, head downwards, swinging 

 like a pendulum, if I touch the wire-gauze. 

 Four tiny hooks are what it hangs by. If 

 they gave way, if they became unfastened, 

 the insect would be lost, for it is incapable of 

 unfurling its enormous wings anywhere ex- 

 cept in space. But they will hold: life, be- 

 fore withdrawing from them, left them stiff 

 and solid, so as to be able firmly to support 

 the struggles that are to follow. 



The wing-cases and wings now emerge. 

 These are four narrow strips, faintly 

 grooved and looking like bits of paper rib- 

 bon. At this stage, they are scarcely a 

 quarter of their final length. So limp are 

 they that they bend under their own weight 



405 



