Omaha Sunday Bee Magazin
ePage
Copyright, 1912. by American-Examiner. Great Britain Right Reserved.
2 3
1"
The Birth of the Butterfly.
1 Th Caterpiller Climbs the
Ttvig, Impelled by the Coming
Change.
2 The Chrystallis Hood Begins
to Form. '
3 The Body Writhes in Its, Labor
to Attach Itself to the Twig.
4 Spent with Its Efforts It Hangs
. Motionless. ,
5 The Chrystallis Hood Extends
Oyer the .Worm.
6 The Chrystallis Is Complete.
7 The Change Begins; the Wing
Shields Are Forming.
8 The Butterfly Half Out
9 The Butterfly Is Born.
The Tragic Honeymoons of the Praying Mantis, the
Sixth Sense of the Moth, the Misunderstood Cigale
THE stories of the intelligence
shown by the ant and the
bee, their complex social hab
it a and the evidences of a real insect
civilization, make up one of the
most marvelous chapters of nature.
But the ant and the bee are not
alone in the Insect world in their
possession of what seems to be the
higher reason, as well as at least
one other sense which man does not
possess. Dr. J. II. Fabre, the great
est student of insect life in the
world, a French scientist and a phil
osopher, has Just written a book
which hns given him the title of
"The Homer of the Insect." A few
extracts from it are printed on this
page.
r-1
H Who Is there that doesn't
know the legend of the ci
gale, who went begging for food to
the ant. and was told: "You sans
The Love Tragedy of the
By Dr. J. H. Fabre
(From "Social Ufa in thn I nfic.t World")
Oopyrtfhtrt 1 the Century Company, Nw Xork.
IAMB is the daughter of legend, all Summer. ' Now dance all Winter.
and keep warm." Let us seek to re
habilitate the songstress so calum
niated by the fable. At no time
does the cigale plead starvation at
the doors of the ant hills; the ant,
on the contrary, harassed by
drought, begs of the songstress 1
Hegs, do I say? Borrowing and re
paying are no part of the manners
of this land-pirate. She exploits
the cigale; she Impudently robs her.
Let us consider this theft; a curi
ous point of insect history sb yet un
known. In July during the stifling hours
of the afternoon, when the insect
peoples, frantic with drought, wan
der hither and thither vainly seek
ing to quench their thirst, the cigale
makes light of the general aridity.,
Crouching on the twig of a suitable
shrub she perforates the rind dis
tended by the sap which the sun'
i c ;
l scorpions.
1 The Scorpions Meet Each
Other and, Claws Clasped, , Per.
form This Solemn Dance to
Celebrate Their Engagement.
has matured,
2 Then for Several Hours They "Hold Hands" in
This Manner, Casing Into Each Other's Eyes.
3 The Female Scorpion Then Leads Her New
Mate to His Rest
4
Plunging her pro-
' boscis into the bung
hole she drinks.
There are many
thirsty creatures
wandering hither
and thither, and at
last they discovered
the cigale and the
private well, betray
ed by the oozing sap
upon the brink. I
have seen
crowded around
the honeyed per
foration, wasps,
flies, earwigs,
sphinx moths,
pompllldae, rose
chafers, and, above all,
ants. I have seen them
nibbling the ends of
the cigala's claws; I
caught them tugging at
the ends of her wings,
climbing on her back,
tickling, her antennae.
One audacious indi
vidual so far forgot her
self, under my eyes, as
to seize her proboscis,
endeavoring to abstract
it from the well.
So we see reality
completely reverses the action
described by the fable. The
shameless beggar, who doesn't
hesitate at theft Is the ant
The industrious worker who will
ingly shares her goods with the
suffering, is the cigale. '
Yet' another detail, and the re
versal of the fable is furthef em
phasized. After five or six weeks
of gaiety the songstress falls from
the tree exhausted by the fever of
life. A bandit in search of booty,
the ant, discovers the remains. She
divides the rich find and cuts it up
into tiny fragments, which goes to
swell her stock of provisions. It is
not uncommon to see a dying ci
gale, whose wings are still tremb
ling in the dust, drawn and quartered
by a gang of knackers her body is
black with them. After this in-.
Btance the truth of the relations of
the two insects is obvious.
The tragedies of the Insect world!
Again the cigale. It is late, and
they are silent. Drowsy with light
and heat they have exhausted them
selves in producing their symphonies
all day long. In the thick foliage of
the plain-tree there is a sudden
sound like a cry of anguish. It is
the despairing lamentation . of the
cigale, surprised in the silence by
the green grasshopper, that ardent
hunter of the nigbt, which leaps
upon her, seizes her by the flank,
tears her open, and devours the
contents of ber stomach. After the
orgy of musto comes ' sight and
assassination.
; But there Is another creature of
, this world which is quite as curious
and as interesting as the cigale, but
much less famous because it is
voiceless.- It is called by the Pro
vencals Lou Prcgo-Dleu, the creature
which prays to God. Its official
name is the praying mantis.
Good people, now very astray
your childlike simplicity has led
you I These attitudes of prayer
the attitude of prayer is promptly
abandoned. Suddenly unfolded, the
three long joints of the deadly fore
legs shoot out their terminal talons,
which strike the victim and drag it
backward - toward the two saw
blades of ' the thighs. The , vise
closes with a movement like that
of the forearm upon the upper arm
and all is over; cricket, grass
hopper and even more powerful in
sects, once eelzed in this trap are
lost. Their frantic struggles wlli
never release the hold of tnis ter
rible engine of destruction.
At the sight of a great cricket the
mantis " suddenly assumes a most
terrifying posture. The wing covers
open and are thrust obliquely aside;
the wings spread to their full width,
standing up like parallel screens of
transparent gauze, forming a pyra
' midal prominence which dominates
the back; the end of the abdomen
curls upward, then falls and un
bends itself with a sort of swishing
noise, a puff like the sound emitted
by the feathers of a strutting turkey
cock. One is reminded of the puff
ing of a startled adder. Motionless
in its weird position, the mantis
surveys the acridian, its gaze fixed
upon it. its head turning gently as
on a pivot as the other changes
place.
The cricket sees spring up before
it a terrible spectral form - with
talons outstretched, ready to fall
.upon it; it feels. Itself face-to. face
with death and fails to flee while
there is time. It is said that young
birds, paralyzed with terror by the
gaping mouth of serpents will allow
. A. X
4 After the Honeymoon the Scorpion Bride Sets Upon '
Her Bridegroom and De vours Him.
5
.. - ii i t Tr win i mJt. J i n
, w ,vX i.i wcv?
V ""w" , : ' : life '
:WV Jb
4 "y S X
Two Mantel Fighting Like Prize Fighters with Their
' Enormous Claws.
...' 1 .
mrw ir ,.: n ay
. - , -El-
V i
6 The Scorpion Mother Playing Like a Cat irnd Kittens with Her
Brood. (Photographs by Dr. J. H. Fabre.)
conceal the most atrocious habits;
these supplicating arms are lethal
weapons; these Angers tell - no
rosaries, hut help to exterminate
the unfortunate passerby it Is the
tiger of the peaceful insect peoples:
the ogre in ambush which demands
a tribute of living flesh!, It it only
had sufficient strength and size Us
bloodthirsty appetites and its hor
rible perfection of concealment
would make it the terror of the
countryside. If man and it were in
the proportion i of the grasshopper
and the mantis no dragon which
ever infested earth was ever so
terrible. The Prego-Dieu would be
come a satanic vampire. As It is, I
have often been obliged to set a sec
ond person to free me from one of '
these tenacious captives.
Thanks to a flexible neck, the
head can turn to right or left, bow
or raise its head in the air. Alone
among insects, the mantis is able to
direct its gaze; it inspects and ex
, amines; it has almost a physi
ognomy! Its fore-legs and thighs
are nothing but combinations of
Bpikes, steely spines and double
edged saws. The fore-legs termi
nate in strong books, the points of
which are sharp as the finest
. needle; a tool which is fluted and
has a double blade like a pruning
knife.
When the mantis is In repose Us
weapons are folded and pressed
against the thorax and are perfect
ly inoffensive in appearance. The
' Insect is apparently praying. But
let a victim come within reach and
themselves to be snatched from the
nest. The cricket will often behave
in almost the same way. Once
within reach of the enchantress, the
grappling hooks are' thrown, the
fangs strike, the double saws close,
together and hold the victim in a
vise.
But we have yet to learn the
worst. The customs of the mantis
in connection with its own kin are
more atrocious even than those of
the Bpiders. The female mantis
will always eat her sisters even
when her favorite quarry, Jhe
cricket, is attainable. And, alas, its
poor husband! ,
We are near the end of August.
The male mantis, a slender and
elegant lover, Judges the-tlme to te
propitious. He makes eyes at his
powerful companion; he turns his
head toward her; he bends his neck.
His little pointed face almost seems
to wear an expression! For a long
time he stands thus motionless, in
contemplation of the desired one.
The latter, as it Indifferent, does
not stir. He need not despair, she
will accept him as her mate be
cause she loves him as the choicest
of game. During the day, or at lat
est on the morrow, he is seized by
his companion, who first gnaws
through the back of his neck, ac
cording to use and wont, and then
methodically devours him mouthful
by mouthful, leaving only the wings.
Here we have no case of Jealousy,
but simply a depraved taste. In the
course of two weeks I have seen
, the same mantis treat seven hus-
"If the Praying Man
tis only had suffi
cient strength and
siase it would be
the terror of the
countryside. If man
and it were on the
proportion of the
grasshopper and
mantis, no dragon
which ever infested
earth was ever so
terrible. The Prego'
Diett .would become
a Satanic vampire!"
'A Little Sun Wor
shipper, the African
Spider Mother, That
Holds the Pellet
Containing Its Egg
Up to the Sun for
' Hatching. '
if Q -
II: ; - ' t. "i x T i
bands in this fashion. She accepts
them all and all pay for her favor
with their lives. f : ? -
The sixth sense of the moth!
There is a great and beautiful
European moth called . the' Great
Peacock or Eniperor. One morning
a female emerged from a cocoon in
my laboratory. Imprisoned her
in a wire gauze cage. - That night
was stormy, the sky heavily clouded,
the darkness so profound that out
of doors one could not see one's
hand before one's face. Yet between
eight and nine o'clock forty courtiers
of the captive princess flew into my
study seeking her ! - The Great
Peacock was comparatively rare
near my home. Yet every night they
flew to her. I caught and marked
them Tn clcht riava nnn hiinrirpri
and fifty had visited me. They must
have come from at least a 'radius of
a mile and a half. How did they
' learn what was happening in my
study. These agents of information
affect the senses at a distance; sight,
sound and smell. Sight could guide
them once they entered the open
window, but how could it keen them
out of doors, among unfamiliar-surroundings?
One would have to im-.
agine a keenness of vision capable of
annihilating leagues of space, able
to see through walls. Sight cannot
be the guiding sense. , -
Sound is equally out of question.
The female is absolutely mute. Does
she perhaps limit vibrations of such
delicacy or rapidity that only the
most sensitive microphone could ap
preciate them? The idea is barely
possible.
Smell remains. Are there effluvia
analogous to what we call odor abso
lutely imperceptible to us but capa
ble of stimulating a sense organ far
more sensitive than our own. . A
simple experiment suggested itself.
I would mask these effluvia, stifle
them under a powerful, tenacious
odor which would take complete
' possession of the sense organ and
neautralize the less powerful impres
sion. , , , ,
I sprinkled "napthalene about,
placed a capsule beside the female
and used other strong odors. . Yet
the moths arrivedon time. Further
more they caire with a great wind
against which no known Bcent could
travel! The only time they would
not respond was when I put the fe
male in a hermetically seeled glass
jar i
What is the sense that drew them
so unerringly? Certtinly we do not
have it '
