TWO STRANGE GRASSHOPPERS 



ask a further question. Why, when the two insects are 

 almost exactly the same in form, and might be expected 

 to have the same needs, should the one have an enormous 

 appetite and the other such temperate ways? They 

 tell us, in their own fashion, what many insects have 

 told us already : that inclinations and habits do not de- 

 pend entirely upon anatomy. High above the laws that 

 govern matter rise other laws that govern instincts. 



II 



THE WHITE-FACED DECTICUS 



The White-faced Decticus stands at the head of the 

 Grasshopper clan in my district, both as a singer and as 

 an insect of imposing presence. He has a grey body, 

 a pair of powerful mandibles, and a broad ivory face. 

 Without being plentiful, he is neither difficult nor weari- 

 some to hunt. In the height of summer we find him 

 hopping in the long grass, especially at the foot of the 

 sunny rocks where the turpentine-tree takes root. 



The Greek word dectikos means biting, fond of biting. 

 The Decticus is well named. It is eminently an insect 

 given to biting. Mind your finger if this sturdy Grass- 

 hopper gets hold of it : he will rip it till the blood comes. 

 His powerful jaw, of which I have to beware when I 

 handle him, and the large muscles that swell out his 



