FABRE’S BOOK OF INSECTS RETOLD FROM ALEXANDER TEIXEIRA DE MATTOS’ TRANSLATION of FABRE’S “SOUVENIRS ENTOMOLOGIQUES” BY MRS. RODOLPH STAWELL Illustrated by E. J. DETMOLD NEW YORK DODD, MEAD AND COMPANY 1921 CONTENTS CHAPTER I PAGE MY WORK AND MY WORKSHOP 1 CHAPTER II THE SACRED BEETLE 11 CHAPTER III THE CICADA 25 CHAPTER IV THE PRAYING MANTIS 40 CHAPTER V THE GLOW-WORM 54 CHAPTER VI A MASON-WASP 69 CHAPTER VII THE PSYCHES 89 CHAPTER VIII THE SELF-DENIAL OF THE SPANISH COPRIS 109 CHAPTER IX TWO STRANGE GRASSHOPPERS 121 CHAPTER X COMMON WASPS 138 CHAPTER XI THE ADVENTURES OF A GRUB 157 CHAPTER XII THE CRICKET 175 CHAPTER XIII THE SISYPHUS 198 CHAPTER XIV THE CAPRICORN 209 CHAPTER XV LOCUSTS 227 CHAPTER XVI THE ANTHRAX FLY 249 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS THE SACRED BEETLE Frontispiece Sometimes the Scarab seems to enter into partnership with a friend THE CICADA FACING PAGE In July, when most of the insects in my sunny country are parched with thirst, the Cicada remains perfectly cheerful 26 THE PRAYING MANTIS A long time ago, in the days of ancient Greece, this insect was named Mantis, or the Prophet 42 PELOPÆUS SPIRIFEX When finished the work is amber-yellow, and rather reminds one of the outer skin of an onion 80 THE PSYCHES This is the secret of the walking bundle of sticks. It is a Faggot Caterpillar, belonging to the group known as the Psyches 90 THE SPANISH COPRIS The burrow is almost filled by three or four ovoid nests, standing one against the other, with the pointed end upwards 116 THE WHITE-FACED DECTICUS The Greek word dectikos means biting, fond of biting. The Decticus is well named. It is eminently an insect given to biting 130 COMMON WASPS The wasp’s nest is made of a thin, flexible material like brown paper, formed of particles of wood 144 THE FIELD CRICKET