Rail — The Biology of Stagmomantis Carolina. 45 



could never be discerned, but the cerci constantly pass 

 over the last addition much in the manner that the anten- 

 nae of some insects are used. Whether these organs 

 assist in making the openings, or whether they act only 

 as sense organs and keep the whole affair symmetrical 

 could not be ascertained. In one female the cerci were 

 removed with fine scissors during the egg-case building. 

 The structure was completed in a very irregular man- 

 ner. This fact may, however, have been the result of 

 the shock of cutting, since the same individual without 

 the cerci a few days later made another egg-case of 

 perfectly normal appearance. The eggs are not de- 

 posited in a haphazard manner, but all of them stand 

 on end, one in each cell. They must of course be em- 

 bedded in this manner, and perhaps the cerci come into 

 use in some way in accomplishing this. The last abdom- 

 inal segment carrying the cerci is constantly in one 

 position throughout the work, apparently always keep- 

 ing hold upon the last addition of the "braided" top. 

 From the opening just beneath the last dorsal segment 

 the material for the nest issues, while the work of mold- 

 ing the cells and shaping the mass is done by the 

 characteristic ovipositor. This organ goes over and 

 smoothes each partition two or three times, while the 

 dorsal tip never looses its hold of the last braided ad- 

 dition. 



An interesting fact is that immediately after ovipos- 

 iting the insect walks away for a short distance and 

 goes through the contortion of forming a circle of her 

 body, and with her head partly inserted into the rear 

 opening eats away all that remains of the nest material, 

 and in so far as I have been able to see, quite relishes it. 

 It may be that it is necessary to remove any of this 

 substance before it hardens and would be a great hind- 

 rance to future copulation or oviposition, but this can- 

 not be the sole reason, for I have seen insects of both 

 sexes behave in the same manner on other occasions, 

 and the females usually just after mating. 



