PRAYING MANTIDS — GURNET 343 



when it began to feed on the latter's abdomen. The mantid, obviously 

 hurt, held the hornet, still in a firm grasp, at some distance from the 

 head for a few minutes. Then, with the immediate effects of the 

 sting worn off, it ate the hornet. 



Under favorable circumstances, such as in a field of goldenrod 

 near an apiary, mantids may feed on honey bees a great deal, and a 

 study made near Philadelphia (Thierolf, 1928) showed that honey 

 bees, when available, are one of the favorite insects eaten by the 

 Chinese mantis. In Hawaii a survey was made (Hadden, 1927) of 

 the food of the narrow-winged mantis. The resulting list of the 

 different insects eaten includes 2 species of grasshoppers, 1 katydid, 

 1 aphid, 2 butterflies, 1 moth, 15 flies, and 6 wasps and bees, in addition 

 to members of its own species. Hadden found that the mantids were 

 careful when catching wasps that are equipped with a painful sting 

 and would drop them when stung, then lick the wound caused by the 

 sting. 



Adults of the Carolina mantis were offered scorpions by a Texan 

 entomologist (Breland, 1941a). One mantid seized a scorpion so 

 that the tail was pinioned, and consumed it. However, another 

 mantid made the mistake of grasping a scorpion in such a way that 

 the tail was free, and the scorpion immediately swung the tail over 

 and stung the mantid on the head. The scorpion was released im- 

 mediately, and the mantid carefully avoided it from that time on. 

 Blood oozed from the wound for about 3 hours, and 2 days later the 

 mantid appeared, superficially, to be normal. That the venom had 

 taken permanent effect was suggested by the great difficulty the mantid 

 had in eating. Although prey was caught, chewing and swallowing 

 seemed nearly impossible. About a week after being stung, an 

 abnormal egg case was deposited, and 10 days following the injury 

 the mantid died. 



As a general rule ants are not attractive as food to most species 

 of mantids, although some North African desert mantids are reported 

 to be fond of them. 



Mantids usually wait motionless until their prey comes within reach, 

 or stand and sway from side to side, but sometimes, apparently when 

 very hungry, they may stalk a nearby insect that represents a poten- 

 tial meal. Sometimes the prey is touched lightly with the antennae 

 before the front legs flash forward and make the seizure. It is usually 

 the insect that moves occasionally that gets captured ; motionless in- 

 sects often pass unnoticed. The extremely stealthy habits of most 

 mantids are in contrast to the great speed with which some desert 

 mantids are able to run. These are usually ground-dwelling crea- 

 tures, and under arid conditions in an environment often composed of 



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