The little black parasite, the destroyer of eggs, in itself evokes the necessity of a large batch of eggs; and the difficulty which the larva experiences in effecting a safe lodgment in the earth is yet another explanation of the fact that the maintenance of the race at its proper strength requires a batch of three or four hundred eggs from each mother.

Subject to many accidents, the Cigale is fertile to excess.

By the prodigality of her ovaries she conjures the host of perils which threaten her offspring.
During the rest of my experiment I can at least spare the larvae the worst difficulties of their first establishment underground.

I take some soil from the heath, which is very soft and almost black, and I pass it through a fine sieve.

Its colour will enable me more easily to find the tiny fair-skinned larvae when I wish to inform myself of passing events; its lightness makes it a suitable refuge for such weak and fragile beings.