my breeding-cages. It is therefore an established fact that
the green grasshopper, the false Cigale of the North, will eagerly
devour the true Cigale, the inhabitant of the Midi.

But it is neither the sparrow nor the green grasshopper that has forced
the Cigale to produce such a vast number of offspring. The real danger
is elsewhere, as we shall see. The risk is enormous at the moment of
hatching and also when the egg is laid.

Two or three weeks after its escape from the earth--that is, about the
middle of July--the Cigale begins to lay. In order to observe the
process without trusting too much to chance, I took certain precautions
which would, I felt sure, prove successful. The dry Asphodelus is the
support preferred by the insect, as previous observations had assured
me. It was also the plant which best lent itself to my experiments, on
account of its long, smooth stems. Now, during the first years of my
residence in the South I replaced the thistles in my paddock by other
native plants of a less stubborn and prickly species. Among the new
occupants was the asphodel. This was precisely what I needed for my
experiments. I left the dry stems of the preceding year in place, and
when the breeding season arrived I inspected them daily.

I had not long to wait. As early as July 15th I found as many Cigales as
I could wish on the stems of the asphodel, all in process of laying. The
gravid female is always solitary. Each mother has her twig to herself,
and is in no danger of being disturbed during the delicate operation of
laying. When the first occupant has departed another may take her place,
and so on indefinitely. There is abundance of room for all; but each
prefers to be alone as her turn arrives. There is, however, no
unpleasantness of any kind; everything passes most peacefully. If a
female Cigale finds a place which has been already taken she flies away
and seeks another twig directly she discovers her mistake.

The gravid female always retains an upright position at this time, as
indeed she does at other times. She is so absorbed in her task that she
may readily be watched, even through a magnifying glass. The ovipositor,
which is about four-tenths of an inch in length, is plunged obliquely
and up to the hilt into the twig. So perfect is the tool that the
operation is by no means troublesome. We see the Cigale tremble
slightly, dilating and contracting the extremity of the abdomen in
frequent palpitations. This