MANTIDS AND WALKING STICKS. 



authority but the pose docs not seem to me devout and I 

 know that the mantis is seeking whom it may devour; 

 see those big eyes and especially those spines on the jaw- 

 like front legs. Please do not accuse me of punning when 

 I suggest that they be called " Preying JVlantids." Other 

 names are Devil's Rear Horses and Soothsayers; while, in 

 the South they are believed to poison stock with the 

 brownish fluid from their mouths and are called Mule- 

 killers. They are the only insects that can look over their 

 shoulders. Our northern native species (Stagmomantis 

 Carolina] does not get farther north than southern New 

 Jersey. It is 2 or 3 in. long; the males and some females 

 are grayish brown except for the body and feet which are 

 sometimes greenish; the females may be wholly green. 

 The egg-mass shown in Plate XVII is a trifle small. The 

 European Mantis religiosa has apparently established 

 itself in central New York. Including the wings which 

 extend beyond the tip of the abdomen, it is about 2^ 

 in. long; it is either brown or green. The Oriental Para- 

 tenodcra sinensis is now fairly common about Philadelphia 

 and is being introduced into other parts of the country. 

 It is quite large, especially the female, attaining a length 

 of 3^2 in. or more; the broad, green, front margin of the 

 front wings is sharply separated from the much larger 

 brown portion. The egg-mass of sinensis is shaped like a 

 short, broa.d cornucopia; the eggs are protected by a 

 brownish substance somewhat like dried foam. Several 

 other species occur in the South. All are very beneficial 

 since they destroy large numbers of injurious insects. 

 They are quite harmless to man and, indeed, make good 

 pets. 



PHASMID.E 



In the tropics, where this family, the Walking Sticks, 

 is at home, many of the species have wings, but the north- 

 ern representatives, Diaphcromera femorata and Manomera 

 blatchleyi, are wingless sticks without leaves (see Plate 

 XVII). These curious insects, which may be either 

 brown or green, are not really rare as far north as New 

 York, but, as they look so like twigs and never fly, they 



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