Note 3 — Chapter XIV · THE GOLD BEETLES: THEIR NUPTIAL HABITS

Are these fits of cannibalism following upon love widely distributed? For the moment I know only three really characteristic examples: those of the Praying Mantis, the Languedocian Scorpion and the Golden Carabus. The horror of the lover converted into prey is also found in the Locustian tribe, though accompanied by less brutality, for the victim devoured is now a dead and not a living insect. The female of the White-faced Decticus3 is quite willing to nibble a leg of the defunct male. The Green Grasshopper4 behaves likewise.