CHAPTER VI 



THE MANTIS.— COURTSHIP 



The little we have seen of the customs of the Mantis does 

 not square very well with the popular name for the insect 

 From the term Prego-Dieu we should expect a peaceful 

 placid creature, devoutly self-absorbed ; and we find a 

 cannibal, a ferocious spectre, biting open the heads of 

 its captives after demoralising them with terror. But we 

 have yet to learn the worst. The customs of the Mantis 

 in connection with its own kin are more atrocious even 

 than those of the spiders, who bear an ill repute in this 

 respect. 



To reduce the number of cages on my big laboratory 

 table, to give myself a little more room, while still main- 

 taining a respectable menagerie, I installed several females 

 under one cover. There was sufficient space in the 

 common lodging and room for the captives to move 

 about, though for that matter they are not fond of 

 movement, being heavy in the abdomen. Crouching 

 motionless against the wire work of the cover, they 

 will digest their food or await a passing victim. They 

 lived, in short, just as they lived on their native 

 bushes. 



Communal life has its dangers. When the hay is low 



