378 



Bulletin 83 



so that it is able to nip one somewhat severely in self-defense. It is 

 quite without poison. I have myself been bitten by one, with no 

 more effect than from a similar nip with a pair of forceps. It is 

 heavy or plump-bodied, without wings at any stage, cream colored, 

 with large creamy or light brown head. This large head is smoothly^ 

 rounded, bald, without the angles common to most grasshopper 

 heads, and has often been described to the writer as resembling 

 "a baby's head." From this common conception of its appearance 

 doubtless arose the name "Child-of-the-Desert." It is a burrower 

 in sandy soils and probably seldo^ appears on the surface except 

 at night, which perhaps accounts for its being sometimes confused 

 with the "vinegarone." Indeed, Miss Anita Post, of the Depart- 

 ment of Romance Languages, assures me that the Mexican popula- 

 tion regularly call it by the same term (mata venado) as the other 

 animal, which will 

 be discussed lat^r 

 i n this paper. 

 "Sand-cricket" i s 

 the simplest and 

 best term to use for 

 this insect. 



The seco: I of 

 these inserts is the 

 praying m a n t i s, 

 called commonly 

 by the Mexicans 

 the "campamocha." 

 This insect (Fig. 4), 

 we will grant is 

 eerie in appearance 

 as it rolls about its 

 very mobile head, 

 with the prortud- 

 ing, staring eyes, 

 in odd fashion. The 

 popular super- 

 stition with regard 

 to this is that if ac- 

 cidentally eaten by 

 a horse or cow the result will 1)e fatal. This seems to be a local 

 variation of the belief referred to by Comstock in his work on 

 insects, in which he savs : 



Fig. 



4. — The praying- mantis. I'hotograpli from life, 

 natural size. 



