130 TRUE TALES OF THE INSECTS. 



rush from their den, seize a locust, and hurry it headlong 

 down their gloomy hole, never again to see the light of 

 day. Ants, mantidae, dragon- flies, and others, doubtless 

 do their part in helping to keep the locust in check. 



Fastening themselves to it, under the wings, the Locust 

 Mites suck the carcase to a dry shell, the dead bodies of 

 the locusts sometimes almost covering plants, where they 

 have taken hold of a leaf or stalk, and clasped it with a 

 dead embrace ; while others fall to the ground to die. 



The enemies of the locust so far mentioned either 

 devour it bodily, suck its juices, or are parasitic upon it 

 externally. There remain those which prey upon it 

 internally, the most numerous and beneficial of which 

 are the larvae of the Tachina-flies. These attach their 

 eggs to the parts of the body not easily reached by the 

 jaws and legs of their victim, so as to prevent the egg 

 from being detached. The locusts are attacked on the 

 wing, and one haunted by a Tachina-fly makes frantic 

 efforts to evade the enemy. But the fly persistently 

 buzzes around, waiting her opportunity, and when the 

 locust flies or hops, darts at it and attempts to fasten her 

 egg under the wing or on the neck. Often she fails, but 

 perseveres until usually her task is accomplished. The 

 larvae that hatch from these eggs eat into the body of 

 the locust, and after living for a time on its fatty parts, 

 issue and complete their metamorphoses elsewhere. A 

 locust infested, though enfeebled, seldom dies till the 



