188 
NATURE’S CRAFTSMEN 
is a cicada or harvest-fly. There are many spe¬ 
cies of cicadas, but the one the green huntress 
usually lays for is a big, wide-bodied, prominent¬ 
eyed creature much larger and stronger than her¬ 
self. But there is never any doubt about the 
outcome: the longhorn is too sly; she always takes 
her victim unawares, often as not springing upon 
it while it is sleeping. Being entirely unpro¬ 
vided with weapons, the poor cicada can do noth¬ 
ing but kick and cry out, and small good this 
serves. For the enemy is entirely without mercy, 
and her jaws are a stout pair of pliers which rip 
open the abdomen of the cicada in short order. 
“ Always the abdomen is the point of attack. 
We might think this the most vulnerable part of 
the cicada, but for one thing: usually it is the 
abdomen and its contents alone that are eaten. 
Now, why? We can form but one conclusion: 
the longhorn has a craving for the delicious 
sugary sap which the cicada imbibes by boring 
into the bark of trees with its handy little gimlet. 
Full well the longhorn knows where this treasure 
is stored, and she robs the syrup jar, so to speak. 
She does not care a great deal for meat, and the 
delicate walls and lining of the abdomen are quite 
sufficient. A cage of longhorns fed on cicadas 
soon comes to look like a slaughter pen, with the 
heads, wings, sundered legs, and empty carcasses 
of the unfortunate victims strewn all about. If 
