Pliny the Elder, The Natural History, BOOK XI. THE VARIOUS KINDS OF INSECTS., CHAP. 32.—THE GRASSHOPPER: THAT IT HAS NEITHER MOUTH NOR OUTLET FOR FOOD.

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CHAP. 32.—THE GRASSHOPPER: THAT IT HAS NEITHER MOUTH NOR OUTLET FOR FOOD.

The cicada¹ also lives in a similar manner, and is divided into two kinds. The smaller kind are born the first and die the last, and are without a voice. The others are of the flying kind, and have a note; there are two sorts, those known as achetæ, and the smaller ones called tettiqonia: these last have the loudest voice. In both of these last-mentioned kinds, it is the male that sings, while the female is silent. There are nations in the east that feed upon these insects, the Parthians even, wealthy and affluent as they are. They prefer the male before it has had sexual intercourse, and the female after; and they take² their eggs, which are white. They engender with the belly upwards. Upon the back they have a sharp-edged instrument,³ by means of which they excavate a hole to breed in, in the ground. The young is, at first, a small maggot in appearance, after which the larva assumes the form in which it is known as the tettigometra. ⁴ It bursts its shell about the time of the summer solstice, and then takes to flight, which always happens in the night. The insect, at first, is black and hard.

This is the only living creature that has no mouth; though it has something instead which bears a strong resemblance to the tongues of those insects which carry a sting in the mouth: this organ is situate in the breast⁵ of the animal, and is employed by it in sucking up the dew. The corselet itself forms a kind of pipe; and it is by means of this that the achetæ utter their note, as already mentioned. Beyond this, they have no viscera in the abdomen. When surprised, they spring upwards, and eject a kind of liquid, which, indeed, is our only proof that they live upon dew. This, also, is the only animal that has no outlet for the evacuations of the body. Their powers of sight are so bad, that if a person contracts his finger, and then suddenly extends it close to them, they will come upon it just as though it were a leaf. Some authors divide these animals into two kinds, the "surcularia,"⁶ which is the largest, and the " frumentaria,"⁷ by many known as the " avenaria;"⁸ this last makes its appearance just as the corn is turning dry in the ear.

(27.) The grasshopper is not a native of countries that are bare of trees-hence it is that there are none in the vicinity of the city of Cyrene-nor, in fact, is it produced in champaign coun- tries, or in cool and shady thickets. They will take to some places much more readily than others. In the district of Miletus they are only to be found in some few spots; and in Cephallenia, there is a river which runs through the country, on one side of which they are not to be found, while on the other they exist in vast numbers. In the territory of Rhegium, again, none of the grasshoppers have any note, while beyond the river, in the territory of Locri,⁹ they sing aloud. Their wings are formed similarly to those of bees, but are larger, in proportion to the body.

1 A general name for the grasshopper. Cuvier remarks, that Pliny is less clear on this subject than Aristotle, the author from whom he has borrowed.

2 "Correptis" seems a preferable reading to " conrupti," that adopted by Sillig.

3 The female has this, and employs it for piercing dead branches in which to deposit its eggs.

4 The " mother of the grasshopper."

5 The trunk of the grasshopper, Cuvier says, is situate so low down, that it seems to be attached to the breast. With it the insect extracts the juices of leaves and stalks.

6 Or "twig-grasshopper."

7 Or "corn-grasshopper."

8 Or " oat-grasshopper."

9 The river Cæcina. See B. iii. c. 15. This river is by Strabo, B. vi. c. 260, called the Alex. Ælian has the story that the Locrian grasshoppers become silent in the territory of Rhegium, and those of Rhegium in the territory of Locri, thereby implying that they each have a note in its own respective country.

The Natural History. Pliny the Elder. John Bostock, M.D., F.R.S. H.T. Riley, Esq., B.A. London. Taylor and Francis, Red Lion Court, Fleet Street. 1855.

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Pliny the Elder, The Natural History
John Bostock, M.D., F.R.S., H.T. Riley, Esq., B.A., Ed.

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CHAP. 32.—THE GRASSHOPPER: THAT IT HAS NEITHER MOUTH NOR OUTLET FOR FOOD.

Pliny the Elder, The Natural History John Bostock, M.D., F.R.S., H.T. Riley, Esq., B.A., Ed.

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CHAP. 32.—THE GRASSHOPPER: THAT IT HAS NEITHER MOUTH NOR OUTLET FOR FOOD.

Pliny the Elder, The Natural History
John Bostock, M.D., F.R.S., H.T. Riley, Esq., B.A., Ed.