i8 



Marvels of Insect Life. 



Photo by] [Harold Bastin. 



Head of Rose-leaf Mantis. 



A view of thf fore-parts of this remarkable Insert. The coloured 

 under-surface is shown with the terrible fore-limbs folded. The 

 slender joint or foot with its fringe of spines is shut down 

 between two rows of longer spines on the edge of the next joint 



only ones that serve as food for some 

 people. The iumpirig ma^qgots of the 

 cheese-fly ^ are eaten with the cheese, 

 even by the squeamish Englishman. 



The Flower-like Mantids. 



Tliere are many clever imitations 

 of leaves among Insects : fresh green 

 leaves, leaves that have passed their 

 prime and have turned to ashy-brown 

 tints, leaves that have been fretted by 

 Insects or attacked bv fungi. Such 

 counterfeit presentments are found in 

 several of the unrelated orders of 

 Insect life. But it is very rarely that 

 flowers are mimicked in both form and 

 colour, though in colour alone there are 

 numerous examples of flower-haunting 

 species that become invisible when on 

 the flower, either for feeding upon 



pollen or nectar, or for securing as food other Insects that frequent the blossoms. 

 But among the mantis famfly there is a remarkable species'- found in India, which 



is called by the natives by a name signifying the rose-leaf Insect. It is about three and 



a-half inches long in the bod\^ and, 

 leaving the legs out of consideration, 

 mav be described as fiddle-shaped, the 

 neck of the fiddle (the fore-body 

 of the mantis) being very long and 

 slender. The species has long been 

 known in cabinets and from good 

 figures in entom.ological works, but the 

 descriptions from such specimens were 

 very misleading. In recent vears we 

 have had the advantage of descriptions 

 drawn by naturalists from living 

 examples, and from those who have 

 seen it in its natural surroundings. 

 Under such conditions it is (]uit(> a 

 different thing from the museum 

 specimens. The lore-body, just behind 

 the head, has ;i leaf-like expansion on 

 each side ; and the second and third 

 pairs of legs have similar expansions 



- Ciongylus gongyloidcs. 



Photo by] 



Head of Kose-leaf Mantis. 



IHiirold Ihislin. 



The same aspect as in the preceding photograph, bnt with the 

 fore-limbs partly extended and exhibiting tlie tenible spims 

 upon which its Insect victims are impaled wlien the foot is shut 

 down on the middle joint. 



1 Pi()))liil;i casei. 



