THE FALSE REAR-HORSES 



(Family Mantispidce.) 



As the name would indicate, these insects bear some re- 

 semblance to the Mantidc-e, or praying Mantes, or "rear-horses" 

 as they are called in the South. They have a long neck, and the 

 strong, dilated and spined front legs are inserted just behind the 

 head, and are used for capturing their prey. 



Very few species inhabit the United States, only two, Man- 

 tispa bninnea and M. hiterriipta, having a very wide distribution. 



The transformations of these creatures was for a long time 

 a mystery, but Brauer, of Vienna, learned about thirty years 

 ago that they live upon the eggs and young of spiders. Their 

 eggs are very small, and very numerous, and each is placed at 

 the tip of a long stalk, very much the same way as are the eggs 

 of the lace-winged flies which will be described later. The eggs 

 are laid in the fall and the larvae hatch before winter, but remain 

 hidden without food, until spring. Then they search for the egg 

 cocoons of certain spiders, pierce them, and enter among the 

 eggs. When the eggs are nearly ready to hatch they eat them 

 and the young spiders as well, until they are full grown, molting 

 only twice, and the changing to pupae or nymphs within the larval 

 skin. Just as in the last family, the pupa is active before giving 

 out the fly, and works its way through the larval skin, through 

 the Qgg cocoon of the spider, and gives forth the adult. 



In the genus Symphasis, which belongs to this family, the 

 transformations of our single native species, which lives in Cali- 

 fornia, have not been studied, but a South American species lives 

 in the nests of a wasp. 



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