The Mantis: her Nest 



impassively endures all the indiscretions of 

 which I am guilty as an observer. And yet 

 things do not go quite as I could wish, for 

 the operation is too rapid and is too difficult 

 to follow. 



The end of the abdomen is immersed the 

 whole time in a sea of foam, which prevents 

 us from grasping the details of the process 

 with any clearness. This foam is greyish- 

 white, a little sticky and almost like soapsuds. 

 When it first appears, it adheres slightly to 

 a straw which I dip into It, but, tv/o minutes 

 afterwards, it is solidified and no longer 

 sticks to the straw. In a very short time, 

 its consistency is that which we find in an 

 old nest. 



The frothy mass consists mainly of air 

 Imprisoned in little bubbles. This air, v/hlch 

 gives the nest a volume much greater than 

 that of the Mantis' belly, obviously does not 

 come from the Insect, though the foam 

 appears at the entrance of the genital or- 

 gans; It is taken from the atmosphere. The 

 Mantis, therefore, builds above all with air, 

 which Is eminently suited to protect the nest 

 against the weather. She discharges a sticky 

 substance, similar to the caterpillars' silk- 

 fluid ; and with this composition, which amal- 



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