130 Cockroaches, Locusts, Grasshoppers, and Crickets 



Grande and Gulf coast regions. All the species are carnivorous, and 

 undoubtedly do much good in making away with many noxious insects. In 

 1899 some specimens of the common European praying-mantis, Mantis 



religiosa (Fig. 161), were found in and 

 near Rochester, N. Y. They had 

 probably been accidentally imported 

 into this country in nursery stocks from 

 France. As this species seems able 

 to live farther north than our native 

 species, Professor Slingerland is laud- 

 ably trying to establish it in our coun- 

 try. He takes care of a colony, and 

 is distributing many of the egg-cases 

 over the entire country. All the man- 

 tids lay their eggs in curious masses 

 (Figs. 162 and 163), covered with a 

 quickly drying tough mucus. These 

 egg-cases are attached to branches and 

 plant-stems in the fall, and the young 

 hatch in the following summer and 

 soon grow (moulting several times 

 and developing wings) to full stature, 

 which for our most common native 

 species, Stagmomantis Carolina, is 



about z\ inches long. 



FIG. 162. Egg-cases of the praying- cl . . , , .. , 



mantis, Mantis religiosa. (After Slingerland has collected a num- 

 Slingerland; natural size.) ber of the old accounts of the Euro- 



pean mantis which are of interest as proofs of the light and graceful fancy 



of some of the early author-naturalists. 



The ancient Greeks gave the insects 



the name Mantis, that is, "prophet." 



Mouffet, writing over three hundred 



years ago, says: "They are called 



Mantes, that is, foretellers, either 



because by their coming (for they first 



of all appear) they do show the spring 



to be at hand, so Anacreon the poet 



sang; or else they foretell death and FIG. 163. Egg-case of praying-mantis, 



famine, as Ca^lius the Scoliast of Mantis **%* ^ -T en> ,S win f 

 ' arrangement of eggs inside. (Natural 



Theocritus has observed; or, lastly, size.) 



because it always holds up its fore feet like hands praying as it were, after 



the manner of their Diviners, who in that gesture did pour out their sup- 



