PEPACTON 



which I had observed, seems to have been the work 

 of the males, as it was certainly of the smaller hor- 

 nets, and the object was doubtless to examine the 

 ground, and ascertain if the place was suitable for 

 nesting. By digging two or three inches through 

 the hard, gravelly surface of the road, a fine sandy 

 loam was discovered, which seemed to suit exactly, 

 for in a few days the main shafts were all started 

 in the greensward, evidently upon the strength of 

 the favorable report which the surveyors had made 

 These were dug by the larger hornets or females. 

 There was but one inhabitant in each hole, and the 

 holes were two or three feet apart. One that we 

 examined had nine chambers or galleries at the end 

 of it, in each of which were two locusts, or eighteen 

 in all. The locusts of the locality had suffered great 

 slaughter. Some of them in the hole or den had 

 been eaten to a mere shell by the larvae of the hor- 

 net. Under the wing of each insect an egg is at- 

 tached ; the egg soon hatches, and the grub at once 

 proceeds to devour the food its thoughtful parent 

 has provided. As it grows, it weaves itself a sort of 

 shell or cocoon, in which, after a time, it undergoes 

 its metamorphosis, and comes out, I think, a per- 

 fect insect toward the end of summer. 



I understood now the meaning of that sudden cry 



of alarm I had so often heard proceed from the 



locust or cicada, followed by some object falling 



and rustling amid the leaves ; the poor insect was 



132 



