116 FAMILY III. MAXTIDJE. THE AIANTIDS. 



when raised, makes them look like tiny giraffes. This attitude is 

 assumed for defense and aggression and the insects are noted for 

 their ferocity, pugnacity and tenacity to life. 



The mantids are all carnivorous, feeding principally upon the 

 different forms of other insects. They are thus in the main bene- 

 ficial, in this respect differing widely from all other members 

 of the order Orthoptera, unless it be the tree crickets of the genus 

 Oecanthus, some of which are said to feed upon plant lice. They 

 capture their prey by stealth, either awaiting motionless its near 

 approach or crawling towards it very slowly, and when within 

 reaching distance, seizing it with a sudden and rapid movement. 

 Like other predatory insects, they have very voracious appetites. 

 A male of the European species, Mantis rdigiosa L., which was 

 introduced on nursery stock into New York State, was observed 

 to eat, in one day, three large grasshoppers and a daddy-long-legs, 

 and then tackled another mantis from which he was separated 

 with difficulty. The eggs of mantids are numerous and are en- 

 closed in a corresponding number of cells, arranged in regular 

 rows and united in an ovoid_ mass, attached to twigs, walls or 

 other support (Fig. 52). They are covered by a fibrous substance 

 exuded by the female, which hardens when exposed to air and 

 holds them firmly together. 



The members of the family are widely distributed throughout the 



tropics, and our species are mostly 

 < onfined to the southern States, only 

 five being recorded from north and 

 oast of the Ohio River, two of these 

 being introduced forms. The prin- 

 fl Ywi] f*f\ < ipal literature dealing especially 



n wflw I 21 



f e ( with the North American species is 

 as follows: Saussure, 1869, ISTOa, 



Structures of Mantidas. i Q~~I -i 071 -i 070 . Wpsstxvnnrl 

 a. Pronotum of Sta<in,nm<,,,ti.<;. S ' i ) 18 1 IR, f -<5 J U 6SHA OOd, 



showing shape; b, of Mantoida; c, f.-iiic^ .- 7pVmt 1 SQ4. Sfiirlrlpr 1 

 of Gonatista; d, facial shield of Stag- l ailss - tV ^011111., !<>J- , f?( 1, 1. 



tnomantis, showing width as com- < 1 nn/|<>ll 1 01 Q T? K- TT 1 01 (\ T)-iv T i 

 pared with height; e, same of Ma,,- ' aUQCll, J .!>, K. cV 1., IJlb , JMMS, 



tis. (After Caudell.) 1918 1919 



Representatives of three of the six recognized subfamilies of 

 Mantidse occur in the eastern States. 



KEY TO SUB-FAMILIES OF UXITED STATES MANTIU.E. 



aa. Head unarmed; upper surface of middle and hind femora and tibiae 



rounded. 



b. Pronotum at least twice, and usually three or more times as long as 

 broad and noticeably broadened in front, usually at the point of 

 insertion of the fore coxae (Fig. 50, a. c.) I. MAXTIX.B, p. 117. 



