THE EMPUSA 35 



earlier Diptera: Eristales, or Drone-flies. The Em- 

 pusa refuses them. They are too big for her and can 

 offer too strenuous a resistance. She wards off their ap- 

 proach with blows of her miter. 



A few tender morsels, in the shape of very young 

 Grasshoppers, are readily accepted. Unfortunately, 

 such windfalls do not often find their way into my sweep- 

 ing-net. Abstinence becomes obligatory until the arrival 

 of the first Butterflies. Henceforth, Pieris brassicce, the 

 White Cabbage Butterfly, will contribute the greater por- 

 tion of the victuals. 



Let loose in the wire cage, the Pieris is regarded as 

 excellent game. The Empusa lies in wait for her, seizes 

 her, but releases her at once, lacking the strength to over- 

 power her. The Butterfly's great wings, beating the air, 

 give her shock after shock and compel her to let go. I 

 come to the weakling's assistance and cut the wings of 

 her prey with my scissors. The maimed ones, still full 

 of life, clamber up the trellis-work and are forthwith 

 grabbed by the Empusse, who, in no way frightened by 

 their protests, crunch them up. The dish is to their taste 

 and, moreover, plentiful, so much so that there are al- 

 ways some despised remnants. 



The head only and the upper portion of the breast are 

 devoured: the rest — the plump abdomen, the best part 

 of the thorax, the legs and lastly, of course, the wing- 

 stumps — is flung aside untouched. Does this mean 

 that the tenderest and most succulent morsels are chosen ? 

 No, for the belly is certainly more juicy ; and the Empusa 

 refuses it, though she eats up her House-fly to the last 



