SUBFAMILY I. MAXTIXvE. 127 



VII. TIIESPROTIA Stal, 1877, 45. 



Very slender elongate species, having the head strongly com- 

 pressed ; antemme filiform, more than half the length of body, 

 male, much shorter, female; eyes large, obovate; ocelli in our spe- 

 cies absent in female; very large in male. Pronotum very long, 

 linear, feebly dilated above the fore coxae, thence narrowed with 

 sides almost parallel to the subtruncate apex ; tegmina and wings 

 of male about two-thirds as long as abdomen, their tips rounded. 

 Abdomen very long and slender in both sexes; supra-anal plate 

 lanceolate, carinate above, projecting much beyond the subgenital 

 plate, which in the male is angulate each side at tip at the inser- 

 tion of the slender tapering styles. Front legs very slender, COXSB 

 and femora subequal in length; tibia only one-fourth the length of 

 femur, bearing three slender subapical black-tipped spines and 

 a much longer, stouter terminal one. The species of this genus 

 are confined to the Western Continent, five being known from 

 South America and one from the Southern United States. 



50. THESPKOTIA GBAMINIS (Scudder), 1877a, 90. Grass-like Mantis. 



Pale brown or brownish-yellow; head, pronotum and legs sparsely dotted 

 with fuscous; antennae, pronotum, abdomen and margins of wings pube- 

 scent- Head with a strong triangular tubercle above each eye. Pronotum 

 finely carinate above, the carina evanescent in front ; sides minutely 

 toothed in both sexes. Tegmina and wings of male hyaline, the former the 

 shorter, reaching base of fourth abdominal segment, the wings protruding 

 3 4 mm. beyond their tips. Cerci 7-jointed, about 4 mm. in length, de- 

 pressed, pubescent. Length of body, $, 47 50, $, 52 56; of pronotum, 

 $, 12.5 14, $, 1619; of tegmina, $, 1821 mm. 



This, our most slender-bodied mantid, has been taken by me 

 at Sanford, Sarasota, Dunedin, Lakeland, Ft. Myers, Key West 

 and LaBelle, Fla., Nov. 1 April 10. About Dnnedin it occurs 

 throughout the winter on wire grass and other undergrowth in 

 open pine woods, and has been frequently taken therefrom while 

 sweeping for beetles. Four males were taken, Dec. 11 and March 

 22, on the screen door of my residence, and were perhaps attract- 

 ed by light. Scudder's unique male type was from Ft. Reed, Fla., 

 and the species has been recorded from many different localities 

 throughout the State. R. & H. (1905) state that it is often found 

 "in the pine straw of the pine woods which it so closely resembles 

 as to be invisible when stationary." They also mention (1014d, 

 101) a specimen from Punta Gorda 60.5 mm. in length. Scudder 

 records the species from Georgia and R. & H. (1916, 124) give 



