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«La larva» es uno de los cuentos de Rubén Darío que suele clasificarse como fantástico. Aunque poco estudiado, este relato breve condensa diversas tradiciones literarias, referencias mitológicas, material autobiográfico y algunos de los rasgos más señalados de la escritura del poeta. El trabajo propone un recorrido por las fuentes textuales y temáticas que nutren al texto, así como un análisis actualizado a partir de su condición de «cuento sobrenatural», confrontándolo al mismo tiempo con otros ejemplos parejos de la prosa de Darío. La revisión del relato destaca aspectos que a menudo han quedado en penumbra, y expone un nivel de complejidad que habitualmente se escamotea a los relatos de este tenor. «La larva», by Rubén Darío, has been always classified as one of his fantasy tales. Scarcely studied, this short story connects with a variety of literary traditions, mythological motifs, autobiographical material and some of the author’s most widely known writing traits. This article presents an itinerary throughout the textual and thematic sources that nourish Dario’s text and compares it with other similar examples of his prose. Also, by regarding “La larva” as a “supernatural short story”, the paper provides an updated analysis of one of Dario’s less known pieces of narrative. This renewed approach highlights features that have often been overshadowed and displays a level of complexity rarely appreciated in stories of its kind.

Empusa pennata Thunberg, 1815 Mantis pectinata Drury, 1770: 121. Mantis clavata Goeze, 1778: 34. Mantis spuria Goeze, 1778: 37. Mantis tricornis Goeze, 1778: 34. Gongylus pennatus Thunberg, 1815: 294. Phantoma variabilis Risso, 1826: 212. Empusa egena Charpentier, 1841: 297. Empusa brachyptera Fischer-Waldheim, 1846: 97. Empusa europaea Fieber, 1853: 96. Empusa occidentalis Fieber, 1853: 133. Empusa egena in Krauss, 1890: 235. Distribution. Mediterranean Basin. Material examined. Egyptian collection (12): Abu Ghali 10.IV. 1951 (F); Cairo 9.X. 1953 (F); EL-Fayoum III. 2008 (N); Mansourah 10.VIII. 1956 (F); Pyramid 21.VII. 1953 (F); Wadi Natroun 17.IV. 1952 (F) (ASUC); Abu Keir 15.III. 1959 (F); No data, Coll. Storey 1915 (2 F) (CUC); No data, Coll. G. Ferrante 1927 (M); No data, Coll. Innes 1927 (M); Deirout 25.7. 1923 (F) (EESC)., Published as part of Mohammad, Salwa Kamal, Alla, Sohair Mohammad Gad, El-Hamouly, Hayam, Ehrmann, Reinhard & Nasser, Mohamed Gemal El-Den, 2011, Mantodea of Egypt, pp. 1-27 in Zootaxa 3044 on pages 6-7, DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.278837, {"references":["Thunberg, C. P. (1815) Hemipterorum maxillosorum genera illustrata, plurimisque novis speciebus dilata ac descripta. Orthoptera - Mantodea. Memoires de l'Academie (Imperiale) des Sciences de Saint-Petersbourg 5, 211 - 301.","Drury, D. (1770) Illustrations of natural history of exotic insects. White, London, 130 pp.","Goeze, J. A. E. (1778): Entomologische Beitrage zu des Ritter Linne zwolften Ausgabe des Natursystems. Weidmanns Erben und Reich, Leipzig, 2, 1 - 352.","Risso, J. A. (1826) Histoire naturelle des principales productions de l'Europe meridionale et principalement de celles des environs de Nice et des Alpes maritimes. Levrault, 5, 187 - 257.","Charpentier, T. von (1841) VII. Einige Bemerkungen die Orthopteren betreffend, besonders in Bezug auf Burmeister´s und Serville´s Schriften uber diese Insektenabtheilung. Zeitschrift fur die Entomologie, 3 (2), 283 - 305.","Fieber, F. X. (1853) Synopsis der europaischen Orthopteren, mit besonderer Rucksicht auf die in Bohmen vorkommenden Arten als Auszug aus dem zum Drucke vorliegenden Werke \" Die europaischen Orthopteren \". Lotos, Prague, 3 (I - IV), 1 - 261.","Krauss, H. A. (1890) Erklarung der Orthopteren-Tafeln J. C. Savigny's in der \" Description de I'Egypte. \" Verhandlungen der kaiserlich-koniglichen zoologisch-botanischen Gesellschaft in Wien, 40, 227 - 272."]}

Empusa fasciata Brull��, 1832 Empusa fasciata Brull��, 1832: 83. Distribution. Algeria, Croatia, Cyprus, Egypt, Greece, India, Iran, Iraq, Italy, Jordan, Palestine, Romania, Slovenia and Turkey. Remarks. Numerous reports of this species in Egypt exist in the literature, but specimens are absent from Egyptian reference collections (Bodenheimer 1937, Ehrmann 2002, Roy 2004 and Abu-Dannoun 2007)., Published as part of Mohammad, Salwa Kamal, Alla, Sohair Mohammad Gad, El-Hamouly, Hayam, Ehrmann, Reinhard & Nasser, Mohamed Gemal El-Den, 2011, Mantodea of Egypt, pp. 1-27 in Zootaxa 3044 on page 6, DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.278837, {"references":["Brulle, G. A. (1832) La partie des Insectes dans l'ouvrage de la commission scientifique de Moree. Zoologie - Insectes - Orthopteres - Mantides. Levrault, Paris 3 (2): I - XXIX + 64 - 400 pp.","Bodenheimer, F. S. (1937) Prodromus Faunae Palestinae - essai sur les elements zoogeographiques et historiques du sud-oust du sous-regne paleartique. Memoires de L' Institut d' Egypt, 23, 221 - 223.","Ehrmann, R. (2002) Mantodea - Gottesanbeterinnen der Welt. Natur und Tier-Verlag, Munster, Germany, 519 pp.","Roy, R. (2004) Rearrangements critiques dans la famille des Empusidae et relations phylogenetiques (Dictyoptera, Mantodea). Revue francaise d'Entomologie (N. S.), 26 (1), 1 - 18."]}

Genus Empusa Illiger, 1798 Empusa Illiger, 1798: 499., Published as part of Mohammad, Salwa Kamal, Alla, Sohair Mohammad Gad, El-Hamouly, Hayam, Ehrmann, Reinhard & Nasser, Mohamed Gemal El-Den, 2011, Mantodea of Egypt, pp. 1-27 in Zootaxa 3044 on page 6, DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.278837, {"references":["Illiger, J. K. W. (1798) Verzeichnis der Kafer Preußens. Gebauer, Halle, 510 pp."]}

Empusa guttula (Thunberg, 1815) Gongylus guttula Thunberg, 1815: 294. Empusa dolosa Audinet-Serville, 1839: 143. Distribution. Madagascar and North Africa. Material examined. Egyptian collection (7): El-Marg 11.IX. 2008 (F) (ASUC); Wadi Isla, 10.IV. 1940 (M); Wadi Isla, 11.IV. 1940 (F) (EESC); Kardasa, 22 -XII- 1934 (F); Madi, 29.IV. 1916 (F); Madi, 28. II. 1917 (F); Salloum, 5.XII. 1917 (F) (MAC)., Published as part of Mohammad, Salwa Kamal, Alla, Sohair Mohammad Gad, El-Hamouly, Hayam, Ehrmann, Reinhard & Nasser, Mohamed Gemal El-Den, 2011, Mantodea of Egypt, pp. 1-27 in Zootaxa 3044 on page 6, DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.278837, {"references":["Thunberg, C. P. (1815) Hemipterorum maxillosorum genera illustrata, plurimisque novis speciebus dilata ac descripta. Orthoptera - Mantodea. Memoires de l'Academie (Imperiale) des Sciences de Saint-Petersbourg 5, 211 - 301.","Audinet-Serville, J. G. (1839): Histoire naturelle des Insects Orthopteres. Paris, Roret, V - XVIII, 776 (1 - 9, 133 - 214, 767 - 776).","Giglio-Tos, E. (1917) Mantidi esotici. Generi e specie nuove. Bullettino della Societa Entomologica Italiana, Firenze, 48, 43 - 108."]}

Empusa hedenborgii St��l, 1877 Mantis pectinicornis Linn��, 1767: 691 (possible synonym, nomen dubium). Empusa hedenborgii St��l, 1877: 77. Distribution. Almost all of Africa beyond the Sahara, including Cameroon, Cape Town, Eritrea, Senegal, and southwest Asia. Material examined. Egyptian collection (2): Marsa Matrouh 10.9. 1957 (2 F) (ASUC); International museums (11): (Cat.-Nr. 2473-2484) Egypt-E: Hurghada (27.17 N ��� 33.47 E), leg. S. Materna, 07.V. 2002. (2 M), (3 F) (20 ootheca); (Cat.-Nr. 2472) Egypt-E: Hurghada, Hotel-Anlage an Hauswand, leg. M. Karbaum, 17.VI. 1999 (ootheca); (Cat.-Nr. 2468) Egypt-N: Ismailiya (30.35 N ��� 32.16 E), Suweir-Abu Kharwa, leg. W. G. Ullrich, 19.XII. 1995 (N); (Cat.-Nr. 2465) Egypt-N: Wadi an Natrun, Bir Hukir (30.22 N ��� 30.20 E), 100 km S Alexandria, leg. W. G. Ullrich, 19.I. 1993 (N) (SMNK)., Published as part of Mohammad, Salwa Kamal, Alla, Sohair Mohammad Gad, El-Hamouly, Hayam, Ehrmann, Reinhard & Nasser, Mohamed Gemal El-Den, 2011, Mantodea of Egypt, pp. 1-27 in Zootaxa 3044 on page 6, DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.278837, {"references":["Stal, C. (1877): Systema Mantodeorum. Essai d'une systematisation nouvelle des Mantodees. Bihang till Koniglich Svenska Vetenskaps Akademiens Handlingar Stockholm 4 (10), 1 - 91.","Linne, C. (1767) Systema Naturae per regna tria naturae, sive regna tria Naturae systematice proposita per Classes, Ordines, Genera & Species cum Characteribus, Differentiis. Synonymis, locis. Vienna, reprint, 1327 pp."]}

Empusa fasciata Brulle, 1832 Distribution: Algeria, Asia Minor, Crete, Croatia, Cyprus, East-Europe, Egypt, Greece, India, Iran, Jordan, Slovenia, Palestine, Rumania and Turkey. Material examined: (115) specimens: Abu Alanda 23.X. 87 (1 N); Al Abdaleyyah 30.III.05 (1 N); Al Ameer Hamza Forest 11.IX05 (1 N); Al Arab Dam 8.XI.05 (2 N); Al Barrah 5.IX.05 (3)N; Al Bassah 5.VII.05 (1 N); Al Azraq 19.IV. 95 (1 M); Al Faysaliah 29.IV. 98 (1 M); Al Jubayhah 27.II. 90 (1 N), 3.III. 90 (1 N), 7.III. 81 (1 N), 8.III. 89 (1 N), 8.III. 91 (1 N), 3.III. 96 (1 N), 12.III. 77 (1 N), 20.III. 84 (1 N), 2.IV.? (1 N), 2.X. 85 (1 N), 3.X. 85 (1 N), 17.X. 78 (1 N), 24.X. 78 (1 N), 29.X. 77 (2 N), 16.XI. 86 (1 N), 21.XI. 89 (1 N); Amman 25.III.? (1 N), 30.IV. 96 (1 F) 17.V. 83 (1 M), 25.XI. 78 (1); Anjarah 27.IX (1 N), 15.VIII.05 (1 N), 11.IX05 (1 N); Ar Rumman 18.III.04 (1 N), 27.VII.04 (1 N), 14.IX.04 (1 N); Ar Rummanah Camp 4.IX.05 (2 N); As Salt 2.V. 98 (1 M); Assarow As Salt 11.II.05 (1 N), 4.IV.03 (1)M, 8.IV.03 (1 M), 23.IV.03 (1 F, 1 M), 25.IV.03 (1 F), 27.IV.04 (1 F), 3.V.04 (1) ootheca, (16 Nymphs emerged on 26.VI.04) 7.V.03 (1 M), 6.VIII.05 (1 N); At Tayyibah 15.IV. 95 (1 M); Ayn Musa 19.VII.05 (1 N); Az Zarqa��� 30.I. 96 (1 N); Bate Yafa 27.VII.04 (1 N); Berqish 7.X.04 (1 N); Dabuq 30.IV.? (1 M); Dayr Alla 24.XII. 94 (1 N); Dibbin 1.V. 93 (1 M); Ghawr as Safi 2.XI. 86 (1 N); Ghawr Kabid 20.III. 93 (1 M), 4.IV. 96 (1 M), 14.IV. 94 (1 N), 8.V. 79 (1 M), 10.V. 92 (1 F), 3.VII. 95 (1 M); Hummrit As Sahin 8.VIII.05 (2 N), 6.IX.04 (2 N); Iraq Al Ameer 5.VII.05 (1 N); Irbid 4.IV.? (1 M), 23.X. 96 (2 N), 23.X. 97 (6 N), 26.XII. 77 (1); Jarash 12.II. 92 (1 M), 13.IV.04 (1 F), 4.V. 91 (1 N), 20.IV.03 (1 F, 1 M); Jawa 2.I. 93 (1 N); Jordan Valley 30.III. 93 (1 M), 2.XI.04 (1 M), 30.XI. 94 (1 N); Kufr Jayiz 30.III.04 (3 N); Kufr Khal 19.IV.03 (1 F), 11.IX.05 (3 N); Kurayyimah 20.IX. 94 (1 F); Ma���in 28.II.05 (1 N); Mlahe-Madaba 28.II.05 (1 N); Nahlah 2.IV. 77 (1 N); Nepo 19.VII.05 (1 N); Suwaylih 25.IV. 88 (1 N); Turkey Forest 3.IV.05 (1 N); Umm Al Basateen 3.V.04 (1 F) (JPUC); Umm Al Madares 5.VII.05 (2 M); Umm Qays 17.V. 98 (1 N); Wadi Al Je���ah 11.IV.05 (1 F), 15.IV.05 (1) ootheca, 16.IV (2) small ootheca, (12 Nymphs emerged on 8.VI.05); Wadi As Sir 2.IX. 86 (1 N); Wadi Shu���ayb 20.IV.? (1 M), 7.V. 84 (1 M), 27.VI.05 (1 N), 19.IX.05 (1 N); Yarqa 6.IV.04 (1 F, 1 M); Yajuz 5.IV. 88 (1 N); Zubea 7.X.04 (1 N). Remarks: Adults of Empusa fasciata were seen catching and feeding on crane flies (Tipulidae).Even though both sexes are winged they are not particularly good fliers and many specimens were collected by hand. This species was collected on Ononis spinosa, Ononis natrix, Sarcopoterium spinosum, Varthemia iphionoid, Balluta undulata and Fumaria densiflora. The nymphs have striking mimicry to the pink flowers of Fumaria densiflora, which bloom between March and April. The species overwinters as nymphs. Adults usually appear from between March and May. It was easy to rear and individuals can stay alive without food about 30���40 days. The ootheca is usually layed between April and May. In our study, one female produced 3 oothecae; the first one was the largest and included 16 eggs., Published as part of Abu-Dannoun, Omar & Katbeh-Bader, Ahmad, 2007, Mantodea of Jordan, pp. 43-56 in Zootaxa 1617 on pages 48-49, DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.179121, {"references":["Brulle, A. (1832) Expedition Sci. de Moree. Zoologie - Orthoptera - Mantodea. Levrault, F. G., 3 (2), 83 - 84, Taf. 29, Abb. 4 - 5."]}

Empusa pennata (Thunberg, 1815) Distribution: Algeria, Canary Islands, Libya, Morocco, Sardinia, Sicilian, Spain, Tunis and Western Mediterranean area. Material examined: (6) Specimens: Al Ghawr 1.IV.02 (1 F), 18.III.04 (1 F); Al Mujeb Reserve���Al Ghawr 22.VII.05 (1 N); Ghawr Al Mazra���ah 8.X.05 (1 N); Ghawr Hadethah 19.IX.05 (1 N); Marka 10.V.03 (1 F). Remarks: Empusa pennata is recorded from Jordan for the first time. It appears to be rare in Jordan. Most specimens were collected from the southern Jordan Valley. This species was recorded near Jericho (Palestine) by Kneucker (1909). Additionally, Chopard (1921) recorded this species from Amara (Iraq). It was observed that this species as well as Empusa fasciata are capable of maneuvering well enough to escape capture. It was observed living on Halocremum strobilaceum and other dry grasses., Published as part of Abu-Dannoun, Omar & Katbeh-Bader, Ahmad, 2007, Mantodea of Jordan, pp. 43-56 in Zootaxa 1617 on page 49, DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.179121, {"references":["Thunberg, C. P. (1815) Hemipterorum maxillosorum genera illustrata. Orthoptera- Mantodea. Memoir of Academy of Science of St. Petersburg, 5, 211 - 301.","Chopard, L. (1921) Report on the Orthoptera of Mesopotamia and Persia. Journal of the Bombay Nature Society, 27, 47 - 59."]}