The Life of the Grasshopper 



same attitude as the Italian Locust. The 

 abdomen is driven perpendicularly into the 

 soil; the rest of the body partly disappears 

 under the sliding sand. We again see a long 

 period of immobility, exceeding half an hour, 

 together with little jerks of the head, a sign 

 of the underground efforts. 



The two mothers at last release them- 

 selves. With their hind-legs, lifted on high, 

 they sweep a little sand over the orifice of 

 the pit and press it down by stamping rap- 

 idly. It is a pretty sight to watch the pre- 

 cipitous action of their slender legs, blue or 

 pink, giving alternate kicks to the opening 

 which is waiting to be plugged. In this 

 manner, with a lively trampling, the entrance 

 to the house is closed and hidden away. The 

 hole in which the eggs were laid disappears 

 from sight, so well obliterated that no evil- 

 intentioned creature could hope to discover 

 it by means of vision alone. 



Nor is this all. The driving-power of the 

 two rammers is the hinder thighs, which, in 

 rising and falling, scrape lightly against the 

 edge of the wing-cases. This bow-play pro- 

 duces a faint stridulation, similar to that with 

 which the insect placidly lulls itself to sleep 

 in the sun. 



