THE INSECT WORLD. 



83 



chocolate, of which the roaches are very fond, they will get also 

 a particle of borax, which is poisonous to them. This mixture 

 has proved successful in many instances within my own experi- 

 ence, and has the advantage of being cheap as well as non-poi- 

 sonuus to man. 



The Raptoria, or "graspers," form one family, the Mantidce, 

 as odd in appearance as their habits are unusual. They are 

 clumsy, heavy-bodied insects, with short, broad wings, the 

 middle and hind-legs rather weak, but with an unusually long 

 and slender prothorax, to which is attached a pair of huge 

 forelegs, armed with sharp spurs and spines. The head is usu- 

 ally much broader than the prothorax, with prominent, often 

 globular eyes, short antennae, and so set as to be capable of lat- 

 eral motion. It is, in fact, the only type capable of turning its 

 head ! 



The insects are, as a rule, sluggish, those occurring with us 

 incapable of rapid motion, depending entirely upon such prey as 



Fig. 49. 



The Oriental roach, Periplaneta orientalis. — a, the male ; b, the female ; r, egg-case. 



comes within easy reach, and securing this through their often 

 remarkable resemblance to the vegetation among which they 

 lurk. In other countries there are some more active species, 

 capable of pursuing and capturing their prey. Their colors are 

 green or yellowish, like leaves, or brownish, like bark ; the wing- 

 covers sometimes mottled and roughened to mimic an irregu- 

 larity or overgrown injury on a trunk or branch. Thus con- 



