232 ENTOMOLOGICAL NEWS. [October, 



mimicry, and local and geographical distribution, all offer a 

 multiplicity of questions and problems of surpassing interest. 

 And the good thing about this work is, that no matter how iso- 

 lated a student may be, or how poor his library or equipment, to 

 him these questions are all open for investigation. And the 

 value of his studies, the importance of his contributions to ento- 

 mological knowledge, are only limited by his conscientiousness, 

 "stick-to-it-iveness," and ability to WORK. 



Some complain of being in an "unfavorable," "poor," or 

 : ' overworked " locality. I should say, the more so the better. 

 For the greater acuteness and more persistent application that 

 such conditions would necessitate, could only result in studies of 

 greater value, and consequently greater good, both to science 

 and to the worker concerned. 



If you do not catch the spirit of such investigation, read any 

 of Darwin's special works, or Lubbock's "Ants, Bees and 

 Wasps:" There are three late articles in " Psyche " which echo 

 this spirit, and which are well worth the reading. These are : 



(i). Notes on Habits of Trypoxylon rubrocindum and T. 

 albopilosum by G. W. and E. G. Peckham. 



(2). Habits and Parasites of Stigmus inordinatus Fox, by A. 

 Davidson, M. D., Los Angeles, Cal. 



(3). Some Habits of Formica obscuripes Forel, with notes on 

 some insects found associated with it, by George B. King, Law- 

 rence, Mass. 



-o- 



THFPRAYING MANTIS IS HARD TO KILL. 



By H. M. STANLEY. 



During the first Summer spent in Mexico, before becoming 

 accustomed to the various forms of grotesque and poisonous 

 insect life, I was much annoyed by the praying mantis, Mantis 

 religiosa. This decidedly rollicky "bug," locally known as com- 

 pomoche, would sail into my room in the evening and proceed to 

 careen around on the table among the writing materials with a 

 diabolically knowing twist to its hammer-shaped head and gog- 

 gle eyes, most disturbing to a consecutive train of thought. 



Once, in utter desperation, after many times driving the pest 

 from my writing pad, I caught up a pair of scissors and made a 



