76 SOCIAL LIFE IN THE INSECT WORLD 



It is said that young birds, paralysed with terror by 

 the gaping mouth of a serpent, or fascinated by its gaze, 

 will allow themselves to be snatched from the nest, 

 incapable of movement. The cricket will often behave 

 in almost the same way. Once within reach of the 

 enchantress, the grappling-hooks are thrown, the fangs 

 strike, the double saws close together and hold the 

 victim in a vice. Vainly the captive struggles ; his 

 mandibles chew the air, his desperate kicks meet with 

 no resistance. He has met with his fate. The Mantis 

 refolds her wings, the standard of battle ; she resumes 

 her normal pose, and the meal commences. 



In attacking the Truxalis and the Ephippigera, less 

 dangerous game than the grey cricket and the Decticus, 

 the spectral pose is less imposing and of shorter dura- 

 tion. It is often enough to throw forward the talons; 

 this is so in the case of the Epeirus, which is seized 

 by the middle of the body, without a thought of its 

 venomous claws. With the smaller crickets, which 

 are the customary diet in my cages as at liberty, the 

 Mantis rarely employs her means of intimidation ; she 

 merely seizes the heedless passer-by as she lies in wait. 



When the insect to be captured may present some 

 serious resistance, the Mantis is thus equipped with 

 a pose which terrifies or perplexes, fascinates or absorbs 



bination of a familiar sight and a threatening sound would very 

 plausibly result in cautious immobility. As for its instantaneous 

 assumption of the pose, to move instantaneously is the next best 

 thing to not moving at all. It is less likely to startle than a slow 

 movement. Twigs which have been bent get suddenly released 

 in the natural course of events ; they do not move slowly. The 

 instantaneous appearance of a twig where no twig was before may 

 possibly give the victim pause ; it may halt out of caution, not out 

 of terror. — [Tkans.] 



