will eagerly devour the
body of her dead mate, as will the Green Grasshopper.

To a certain extent this custom is excused by the nature of the insect's
diet; the Decticus and the Grasshopper are essentially carnivorous.
Encountering a dead body of their own species, a female will devour it,
even if it be the body of her latest mate.

But what are we to say in palliation of the vegetarians? At the approach
of the breeding season, before the eggs are laid, the Ephippigera turns
upon her still living mate, disembowels him, and eats as much of him as
her appetite will allow.

The cheerful Cricket shows herself in a new light at this season; she
attacks the mate who lately wooed her with such impassioned serenades;
she tears his wings, breaks his musical thighs, and even swallows a few
mouthfuls of the instrumentalist. It is probable that this deadly
aversion of the female for the male at the end of the mating season is
fairly common, especially among the carnivorous insects. But what is the
object of this atrocious custom? That is a question I shall not fail to
answer when circumstances permit.

CHAPTER X

THE FIELD-CRICKET

The breeding of Crickets demands no particular preparations. A little
patience is enough--patience, which according to Buffon is genius; but
which I, more modestly, will call the superlative virtue of the
observer. In April, May, or later we may establish isolated couples in
ordinary flower-pots containing a layer of beaten earth. Their diet will
consist of a leaf of lettuce renewed from time to time. The pot must be
covered with a square of glass to prevent the escape of the inmates.

I have gathered some very curious data from these makeshift appliances,
which may be used with and as a substitute for the cages of wire gauze,
although the latter are preferable. We shall return to the point
presently. For the moment let us watch the process of breeding, taking
care that the critical hour does not escape us.

It was during the first week of June that my assiduous visits were at
last repaid. I surprised the female motionless, with the oviduct planted
vertically in the soil. Heedless of the indiscreet visitor, she remained
for a long time stationed at the same point. Finally she withdrew her
oviduct, and effaced, though without particular care, the traces of the
hole in which her eggs were deposited, rested for a moment, walked
away, and repeated the operation; not once, but many times, f