THE PRAYING MANTIS 



under the thin plate and half releases itself. It is 

 reddish yellow, and has a thick, swollen head. Under 

 its outer skin it is quite easy to distinguish the large 

 black eyes, the mouth flattened against the chest, the 

 legs plastered to the body from front to back. With 

 the exception of these legs the whole thing reminds one 

 somewhat of the first state of the Cicada on leaving the 



egg. 



Like the Cicada, the young Mantis finds it necessary 

 to wear an overall when it is coming into the world, 

 for the sake of convenience and safety. It has to emerge 

 from the depths of the nest through narrow, winding 

 ways, in which full-spread slender limbs could not find 

 enough room. The tall stilts, the murderous harpoons, 

 the delicate antennae, would hinder its passage, and 

 indeed make it impossible. The creature therefore 

 appears in swaddling-clothes, and has the shape of a 

 boat. 



When the grub peeps out under the thin scales of its 

 nest its head becomes bigger and bigger, till it looks like 

 a throbbing blister. The little creature alternately 

 pushes forward an-d draws back, in its efforts to free it- 

 self, and at each movement the head grows larger. At 

 last the outer skin bursts at the upper part of the chest, 

 and the grub wriggles and tugs and bends about, deter- 

 mined to throw off its overall. Finallv the legs and the 



[49] 



