The Life of the Grasshopper 



tials and his habits we have a memorial of 

 the remotest times. 



How did the insect's ancestors live, in the 

 palaeozoic age? They had their crude and 

 uncouth side, banished from the better- 

 proportioned fauna of to-day; we catch a 

 vague glimpse of habits now almost out of 

 use. It is unfortunate for our curiosity that 

 the fossil remains are silent on this mag- 

 nificent subject. 



Luckily we have one resource left, that of 

 consulting the successors of the prehistoric 

 insects. There is reason to believe that the 

 Locustids * of our own period have retained 

 an echo of the ancient customs and can tell 

 us something of the manners of olden time. 

 Let us begin by questioning the Decticus. 



In the vivarium the sated herd are lying 

 on their bellies in the sun and blissfully 

 digesting their food, giving no other sign of 

 life than a gentle swaying of the antennae. 

 It is the hour of the after-dinner nap, the 

 hour of enervating heat. From time to time 

 a male gets up, strolls solemnly about, raises 

 his wing-cases slightly and utters an occa- 



1 An orthopterous family which includes the Grass- 

 hoppers, but not the Locusts. The latter are Acridians. 

 Translator's Note. 



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