THE MARRIAGE OF INSECTS

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIV, Issue 103, 21 October 1911, Page 9

THE MARRIAGE OF INSECTS

SOME CURIOUS HABITS. Maurice Maeterlinck reviews-in the Forum the Souvenirs' Entomologiques of ■\. 11. Fabre, whom he decribes as the "insects' Homer, one of the most profound and inventive scholars, and also one of the purest writers" and finest poets of the nineteenth century. The Souvenirs embody the results of fifty years of observation, study and experiment on insects. Maeterlinck daintily tells of the way in 'which the dungbeetle and similar unpleasant insects dispose of their unsavory diet. He thus touches on "the nuptial rites which constitute the quaintest and most fabulous episodes of those unknown Arabian Nights." The story is quaint indeed:— The male of the Spanish-fly, among others, with the aid of his abdomen and his lists, begins by frenziedly beating his spouse, after which, with his arms crossed and quivering, he remains long in ecstasy. The newly-wedded Osmias°clap their mandibles terribly, as though it were a matter rather of devouring each other. On the other hand, the largest of our moths, the great peacock, who is' the size of a bat, when drunk with love finds his mouth so completely atrophied that it becomes no more than a vague image. But nothing equals the marriage of the green grasshopper. ° All said, ihe marriage customs are dreadful and, contrary to what happens in every other world, here it is the femiale of the couple who stands for strength and intelligence and also for cruelty and tyranny, which appear to be their inevitable consequence. Almost every wedding ends in the violent and immediate death of the husband. Often, the bride first eats a certain number of suitors. The type of these fantastic unions could be suppled by the languedoeian scorpions, who, as we know, carry lobster claws and a long tail supplied with a sting, the prick of which is extremely dangerous. They have a prelude to the festival in the shape of a sentimental stroll, ,-law by elaw; then, knotionle-s, with fingers still gripped, they contemplate each other blissfully; interminably; and day and night pass over the ecstasy, while they remain faee to face, petrified with admiration. Xext, the foreheads come together and touch; the mouths—if we can give the name of inoiitih to the monstrous orifice that opens between the claws—are joined in a sort of kiss; after which the union is accomplished, the male is transfixed with a mortal sling, and the terrible spouse crunches ami gobbi him down with relish. Hut the mami (lie ecstatic insect with the arnw alwa s raised in an attitude of supreme im km Hon, the horrible mantis religiosa. or proving-insect; does better still; she ca; . her husbands (for the insatiable creature sometimes consumes seven or eight running) while thev press her passionately to their heart. Her inconceivable kisses devour, not metaphorically, but in an appallingly real ta-hion. the ill-fated choice of her soul or stomach. She begins with the head, goes down to the thorax, and does not sto]i till she comes to the hind-legs, which she deems too touch. She (hen pushes away the unfortunate remains, while a new lover, who was quietly awaitin» the end of the monstrous banquet, heroically comes forward to undergo the sama fate.