FABRE'S BOOK OF INSECTS 



defence impossible if you wish to keep your captive alive. 



When at rest, the trap is folded back against the 

 chest and looks quite harmless. There you have the 

 insect praying. But if a victim passes by, the appear- 

 ance of prayer is quickly dropped. The three long 

 divisions of the trap are suddenly unfolded, and the 

 prey is caught with the sharp hook at the end of them, 

 and drawn back between the two saws. Then the vice 

 closes, and all is over. Locusts, Grasshoppers, and 

 even stronger insects are helpless against the four rows 

 of teeth. 



It is impossible to make a complete study of the habits 

 of the Mantis in the open fields, so I am obliged to take 

 her indoors. She can live quite happily in a pan filled 

 with sand and covered with a gauze dish-cover, if only 

 she be supplied with plently of fresh food. In order to 

 find out what can be done by the strength and daring 

 of the Mantis, I provide her not only with Locusts and 

 Grasshoppers, but also with the largest Spiders of the 

 neighbourhood. This is what I see. 



A grey Locust, heedless of danger, walks towards the 

 Mantis. The latter gives a convulsive shiver, and sud- 

 denly, in the most surprising way, strikes an attitude 

 that fills the Locust with terror, and is quite enough to 

 startle any one. You see before you unexpectedly a 

 sort of bogy-man or Jack-in-the-box. The wing-covers 



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