LIBER XI · CAPUT 27
THE GRASSHOPPER: THAT IT HAS NEITHER MOUTH NOR OUTLET FOR FOOD
Latine · Mayhoff 1906
cicadae non nascuntur in raritate arborum — idcirco non sunt Cyrenis nisi circa oppidum — nec in campis nec in frigidis aut umbrosis nemoribus. est quaedam et his locorum differentia. in Milesia regione paucis sunt locis, sed in Cephallania amnis quidam paenuriam earum et copiam dirimit. at in Regino agro silent omnes, ultra flumen in Locrensi canunt. pinnarum illis natura quae apibus, sed pro corpore amplior.
English · Bostock & Riley 1855–57
The grasshopper is not a native of countries that are bare of trees—hence it is that there are none in the vicinity of the city of Cyrene—nor, in fact, is it produced in champaign countries, or in cool and shady thickets. They will take to some places much more readily than others. In the district of Miletus they are only to be found in some few spots; and in Cephallenia, there is a river which runs through the country, on one side of which they are not to be found, while on the other they exist in vast numbers. In the territory of Rhegium, again, none of the grasshoppers have any note, while beyond the river, in the territory of Locri, they sing aloud. Their wings are formed similarly to those of bees, but are larger, in proportion to the body.