FABRE'S BOOK OF INSECTS 



make but a small mouthful, but to judge from the 

 Lizard's expression they taste very good. Every time 

 he gulps down one of the little creatures he half-closes 

 his eyelids, a sign of profound satisfaction. 



'Moreover, even before the hatching the eggs are in 

 danger. There is a tiny insect called the Chalcis, who 

 carries a probe sharp enough to penetrate the nest of 

 solidified foam. So the brood of the Mantis shares the 

 fate of the Cicada's. The eggs of a stranger are laid 

 in the nest, and are hatched before those of the rightful 

 owner. The owner's eggs are then eaten by the in- 

 vaders. The Mantis lays, perhaps, a thousand eggs. 

 Possibly only one couple of these escapes destruction. 



The Mantis eats the Locust : the Ant eats the Mantis : 

 the Wryneck eats the Ant. And in the autumn, when 

 the Wryneck has grown fat from eating many Ants, I 

 eat the Wryneck. 



It may well be that the Mantis, the Locust, the Ant, 

 and even lesser creatures contribute to the strength of the 

 human brain. In strange and unseen ways they have 

 all supplied a drop of oil to feed the lamp of thought. 

 Their energies, slowly developed, stored up, and handed 

 on to us, pass into our veins and sustain our weakness. 

 We live by their death. The world is an endless circle. 

 Everything finishes so that everything may begin again ; 

 everything dies so that everything may live. 



