The insect is well-known as a
vegetarian, but the manner of its feeding is singular. The part that it
takes of a motionless snake would be ineffective if the head moved while
eating, and Nature provides against any blundering of that sort. The
edge of a leaf is guided to the mouth, which appears to open
vertically--not horizontally as mouths usually do--by a set of palpi or
feelers, three on each side. The palpi move the leaf along, the while a
crescent-shaped strip is rapidly nibbled away. Then they move the leaf
back again to the original starting point, and another crescent is
devoured, and so on, while the extended anterior legs, hooked on to a
twig, pull the body forward with a gliding, almost imperceptible motion
as the leaf is gradually consumed. Between meals, the palpi are folded
flat close to the mouth, like the blades of a pocket-knife.
Blacks classify most of the works of Nature under two headings--"Good to
eat," "Not good to eat," and nearly everything is included under the
former. The "Taloo" or "Yam-boo" is included in the larger class.
Ruthlessly deprived of its limbs, the insect is placed squirming on hot
embers until it becomes crisp, when it is eaten with great relish.
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