The Life of the Grasshopper 



ordinary structure : a double claw at the tip, 

 a double steelyard-hook ; and that is all. 



I could wish that anatomy would show me 

 the working of the muscles and nerves in 

 those tarsi, in those legs more slender than 

 threads, the action of the tendons that con- 

 trol the claws and keep them gripped for 

 ten months, unwearied in waking and sleep- 

 ing. If some dexterous scalpel should ever 

 investigate this problem, I can recommend 

 another, even more singular than that of the 

 Empusa, the Bat and the bird. I refer to 

 the attitude of certain Wasps and Bees 

 during the night's rest. 



An Ammophila with red fore-legs (A. 

 holosericea) 1 is plentiful in my enclosure to- 

 wards the end of August and selects a certain 

 lavender-border for her dormitory. At 

 dusk, especially after a stifling day, when a 

 storm is brewing, I am sure to find the 

 strange sleeper settled there. Never was 

 more eccentric attitude adopted for a night's 

 rest! The mandibles bite right into the 

 lavender-stem. Its square shape supplies a 

 firmer hold than a round stalk would do. 

 With this one and only prop, the animal's 



1 Cf. The Hunting Wasps: chap. xiii. Translator's 

 Not*. 



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