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HARBWICKE'S SCIENCE-GOSSIP. 



ruary, March, and April, and again in June and 

 July, in various situations on the banks of the 

 Mersey, especially near the Black Rock, where it, 

 occasionally appears in great numbers, and where it 

 ■was first discovered in 1829. The chrysalides are 

 buried two or three inches in depth below the 

 surface of the sand, as I am informed by Mr. Greg- 

 son, of Liverpool.— C. M. C. 



Parasites in Caterpillars.— Is it known that, 

 other flies beside the Ichneumon deposit their eggs 

 in the bodies of caterpillars, as I have had an 

 instance of such an occurrence this summer? In 

 the autumn of last year I had some caterpillars 

 brought me of the Painted Lady butterfly; one of 

 them I soon observed to be full of larva?, which I 

 supposed to be that of an ichneumon, and from 

 what I could see of them through the skin of the 

 caterpillar they appeared to be of rather a large 

 size. Having witnessed the development of four 

 different species of ichneumon, I anticipated seeing 

 a fifth. In time I observed they had gone into the 

 chrysalis state within the body of the caterpillar; 

 they were of a reddish-brown colour, and very simi- 

 lar in shape to- the chrysalis of the large common 

 house-fly. They remained in this state until the end 

 of June in this year, when there issued from them 

 eight flies, but they were not the common house- 

 fly. Their colour at first' sight was very dark, 

 owing to their being covered with long hairs of a 

 deep purple colour; the body below and between 

 those long hairs was covered with a beautiful silver- 

 grey tint ; the margin of their eyes and front of the 

 head was covered with the same, which gives the 

 eye the appearance of being set in silver ; the legs 

 are also covered with the same silvery tint ; the 

 wings are somewhat iridescent ; they are not in the 

 least like the Ichneumon. On referring to West- 

 wood on Insects, I find, at page 570, vol. ii., in 

 speaking of the species Anthornia, he refers to 

 page 569, fig. 132, 3, 4, 5, and 6, which answers 

 exactly to these produced from the caterpillar ; 

 but those, be says, undergo their transformation in 

 rotten vegetable matter, or in manure, excrementa, 

 &c. Perhaps some of the numerous readers of 

 Science-Gossip have seen something of the same 

 sort take place. 1 have by me the flies, chrysalis, 

 and skin of the caterpillar. — J. Fullagar, Can- 

 terbury. 



Praying Mantis {Mantis religiosa). — Informa- 

 tion derived from the "Naturalists' Library," sub- 

 ject, Entomology, vol. i. pp. 227 — 231 — The charac- 

 teristic features of the family Mantida? are as 

 follows : — " The head is long, triangular, and verti- 

 cal, furnished with large eyes (sometimes having 

 a triangular prolongation in front), and three dis- 

 tinct stemmata; antenna? long, filiform, and slender, 

 composed of numerous joints, sometimes pectinated 

 in the males ; terminal joint of the palpi ending in a 

 point ; ligula quadrufid ; tegmina thin and reticu- 

 lated, usually covering the wings, legs unequal, the 

 anterior pair elongated, thickened, and armed with 

 teeth ; tarsi five-jointed." In this tribe is in- 

 cluded a variety of very singular forms, familiarly 

 known as walking leaves, from the colour, shape, 

 and general appearance of the insects, which have 

 been made familiar to all by the pen of the author 

 and the pencil of the artist. The Mantida? are car- 

 nivorous, and prey upon weaker individuals of their 

 own class, being enabled to seize their prey by the 

 great length of their fore legs, which being situated 

 near the head, and the thorax being very long, 



admits of their extension forwards for a considerable 

 distance, and the thigh, being thick, grooved on its 

 inner edge, and armed with a double row of strong 

 spines, upon which the tibia, which is likewise 

 spinous on its interior edge, closes like the blade of 

 a pocket-knife upon its handle, and so secures the 

 smallest object, that may be within, whilst in the 

 combats which take place between those creatures, 

 it is a formidable weapon, one blow from which will 

 effectually decapitate an adversary. These rapto- 

 rial legs, of which the tarsus is short and weak, 

 often equal, and in some instances surpass, the 

 entire length of the body, and being usually borne 

 extended before the insect, and frequently raised, 

 and as it were clasped together, have invested those 

 insects with an ideal power of divining the course of 

 future events, and consequently in many places they 

 are regarded with a kind of religious veneration. 

 In the south of Prance M. religiosa has the character 

 of pointing out the way to lost children and travel- 

 lers. The Hottentots venerate another species, and 

 any person upon whom it alights is supposed to be 

 a special favourite of Heaven, and the recipient of 

 a peculiar degree of sanctity ; and these fancies have 

 suggested to systematic authors such names as, 

 "oratoria," "religiosa," "precaria," "pater-noster," 

 &c, titles not very appropriate when we consider 

 the fierce and gluttonous character of these crea- 

 tures, which are continually capturing and devouring 

 all the suitable insects which come in their way, 

 closing one armed joint upon another, so as to 

 transfix and secure the viotim ; whilst their pugna- 

 cious disposition leads them to indulge in frequent 

 contests with each other, their manoeuvres during 

 which are described as resembling those of hussars 

 fighting with sabres, and when the battle is decided, 

 the victor devours his late antagonist. This love of 

 war, which surely must command our sympathy, 

 causes them to be kept by the Chinese, who delight 

 in the exhibition of their warlike proclivities. 

 Europe contains only a few of the smaller species of 

 the Mantidee, one of which is found as far north as 

 Erankfort-on-the-Maine, the tropical and temperate 

 regions of the globe being their habitat. The eggs of 

 these insects are very numerous, are of an elongated 

 form and yellow colour, and are disposed in two 

 rows, being inclosed in a soft substance which 

 hardens by exposure to the air. The egg-case is 

 attached to the stalk of a plant. " As a generic 

 designation, the term Mantis is now limited to such 

 members of the family as have the antenna? simple, 

 head without an angular projection in front, eyes 

 hemispherical, anterior legs long and falciform, the 

 others slender and without spines. Many of them 

 are of considerable size, and with a very few excep- 

 tions, extra-European. Mantis religiosa is about 

 two inches in length, of alight green colour, inclining 

 to brown in some places, and occasionally almost 

 entirely of the latter hue ; thorax elongate, particu- 

 larly in the female, and smooth on the surface; 

 tegmina as long as the abdomen, green and un- 

 spotted, each of them with a strong longitudinal 

 nervure, at some distance from the anterior border; 

 under-wings of an elongate triangular shape, green 

 anteriorly, and of a firmer texture than behind, 

 where the colour is pale white; the abdomen 

 and legs are also green; the anal spines, as well 

 on those on the anterior legs, deep chestnut. On 

 the inner side of the coxa? ot the fore-legs there is 

 a yellow spot bordered with black, — a peculiarity 

 which, according to Latreille, serves to distinguish 

 this species from one nearly allied, which is a native 

 of the Cape of Good Hope. Tnis species appears 



