148 NATURE’S CRAFTSMEN 
the air. The females, poor things, never know 
the joy of flight. They are doomed to keep their 
larval shape for aye, but they will not be deprived 
of lovers. So they proceed at once to kindle a 
blazing beacon which shines with a glorious white 
light, tinged with blue, plainly advertising their 
presence from afar. We often see them glowing 
in the grass like bits of starshine, and twinkling 
almost as rapidly as the stars themselves. 
“ Catch one of the little coquettes, and we are 
surprised to And that the beacons are kindled on 
the lower surface of the abdomen, and hence must 
face the ground. How then is it that we catch 
their little gleam? But wait! Put the little 
glower back in the grass; like all females since 
the days of Eden she has her wiles. Watch her 
twist about. First she jerks her flexible abdo¬ 
men this way, then that. The beacon’s light 
flashes like a signaling mirror. It cannot help, 
sooner or later, attracting the eye of every swain 
in the neighborhood, for these fellows are pro¬ 
vided with an optical apparatus which rivals the 
famous eye of Cyclops. It is a double-lensed 
affair filling almost the whole face and protected 
by a peaked cap or shade which aids him to focus 
his vision on a limited area at a time. Indeed, 
so thorough and intent is his gaze that probably 
the tiniest luminous streak would be sufficient to 
guide him. 
