FABRE'S BOOK OF INSECTS 



when it is burnt. Tlie shape of it varies according to 

 the support on which it is based, but in all cases the upper 

 surface is convex. One can distinguish three bands, 

 or zones, of which the middle one is made of little plates 

 or scales, arranged in pairs and over-lapping like the 

 tiles of a roof. The edges of these plates are free, 

 forming two rows of slits or little doorways, through 

 which the young Mantis escapes at the moment of hatch- 

 ing. In every other part the wall of the nest is impene- 

 trable. 



The eggs are arranged in layers, with the ends con- 

 taining the heads pointed towards the doorways. Of 

 these doorways, as I have just said, there are two rows. 

 One half of the grubs will go out through the right door, 

 and the other half through the left. 



It is a remarkable fact that the mother Mantis builds 

 this cleverly-made nest while she is actually laying her 

 eggs. From her body she produces a sticky substance, 

 rather like the Caterpillar's silk-fluid; and this material 

 she mixes with the air and whips into froth. She beats 

 it into foam with two ladles that she has at the tip of her 

 body, just as we beat white of egg with a fork. The 

 foam is greyish-white, almost like soapsuds, and when 

 it first appears it is sticky; but two minutes afterwards 

 it has solidified. 



In this sea of foam the Mantis deposits her eggs. As 



[46] 



