The Locusts: their Eggs 



vised for laying eggs in strata in a keg of 

 froth and extending this keg into an ascend- 

 ing-shaft. The mother, with her abdomen 

 plunged into the sand, expels at the same 

 time eggs and foamy glair. The whole be- 

 comes coordinated of its own accord simply 

 by the mechanism of the organs : on the out- 

 side, the frothy material, which coagulates 

 and becomes encrusted with a bulwark of 

 earth; in the centre and at the bottom, the 

 eggs arranged in regular strata ; at the upper 

 end, a column of yielding foam. 



The Tryxalis and the Grey Locust are 

 early hatchers. The latter's family are al- 

 ready hopping on the yellow patches of grass 

 in August; before October is out, we are fre- 

 quently coming across young larvae with 

 pointed skulls. But in most of the other 

 Acridians the ovigerous sheaths last through 

 the winter and do not open until the fine 

 weather returns. They are buried at no 

 great depth in a soil which is at first loose 

 and dusty and which would not be likely to 

 interfere with the emergence of the young 

 larvae if it remained as it is; but the winter 

 rains cake it together and turn it into a hard 

 ceiling. Suppose that the hatching takes 

 place only a couple of inches down: how is 



395 



