CH. X.] HISTORY OF THE MANTES, ETC. 153 



had an abundant supply of nourishment, they never 

 ceased to attack, kill, and eat each other when they 

 met ; so that I soeedily lost almost the whole of 

 my original stock ; and thinking to preserve the re- 

 mainder by permitting the insects to stray among 

 the flowers of my garden, I found that these, too, 

 were lost to me, having fallen a prey to their ene- 

 mies, the ants. 



The same observer having put a full-grown male 

 and female mantis into a glass case, and taken the 

 precaution of satisfying their hunger, saw never- 

 theless that the cruelty was not surpassed by that 

 of the spider. No sooner did the two insects espy 

 each other, than both remained stiff and motionless, 

 fixing their eyes on each other. In this condition 

 they continued a long time, when the whole frame 

 of each became violently agitated ; the neck was 

 stretched out, the wings expanded and fluttered, 

 while the rest of the body and tail were moved with 

 great agitation. They rushed towards each other 

 with the utmost fury, and hewed away with their 

 sharp, sabre-like forefeet, to use Roesel's expression, 

 like a couple of infuriated hussars. 



Barrow has remarked, that the Chinese take ad- 

 vantage of the pugnacity of these insects, and keep 

 them separate, in bamboo cages, for fighting, as we 

 do gamecocks. He mentioned that they attack 

 each other with such ferocity, as seldom to quit 

 their hold without bringing away, at the same time, 

 a limb of their antagonist. This custom of making 

 them devour each other is so common, that, in the 

 summer months, scarcely a boy is to be seen with- 

 out his cage of warriors. 



Although irascible and cruel, the mantis is essen- 

 tially a cowardly insect. An ant will put the largest 

 to flight, and even their own food, if it appear in the 

 shape of a blue-bottle fly, will teirify them. When, 

 nowever, the fly is not too large, it is curious to re- 

 mark how cunningly it endeavours to entrap its 



