138 Edward Barlow — Note on the food-hn^pcts of the 7na)ifis. [Dec. 



The name of the deity, his lowly priesthood and the story of the 

 Dharma Maijgal raised a strong presumption in my mind in favour of 

 the Buddhist origin of the worship. In reviewing the work "Dharma 

 Maijgal" published by the Baijgavds't Press, I wrote in one of the annual 

 re23orts of the Bengal Library that the Dharma cult might either be a 

 remnant of decayed Buddhism or that it might be some form of non- 

 Aryan worship. But the discovery of the mantrn and the fact that the 

 annual festival is held on the birth-day of Buddha leave little doubt 

 of the Buddhistic origin of this cult. 



5. Materials for a Flora of the Malay Peninsula, No. 7. — By Gr. 

 KiNri, Esq., M.B., LL.D., F.R.S., CLE. 



The paper will be publi.shed in tlie Journal, Pnrt II. 



6. A short note on the food-insects of the mantis Hierodula bipapilla, 

 Serv. — By Edward Barlow, Entomology Assistant, Indian Museum. 



About the beginning of the month of November last, I received 

 two living specimens of a Mantis, Hierodula bipapilla, Serv., from an 

 employee of the Museum, Munshee Kassimuddin, who had captured 

 them at niglit in the vicinity of Harrison's Road where they had been 

 attracted by the glare of the electric light. The morning niter tlieir 

 capture they were as lively as ever, evidently not having suffered much 

 from being confined the whole night in a closed pnper bag ; and so, 

 beino- curious to witness what I liad previously read about the life 

 history and voi'acity of these insects, I confined tliem in a large glass 

 rearing-cage, especially selecting tliis kind of cnge as being large and 

 easily seen into without di.sturbing the insects. The insects on being 

 transferred from the paper bag to the rearing-cage showed signs of 

 great delight, evidently thinking that they had gained their liberty. 

 On the first day of their confinement I placed a dozen living specimens 

 of a fly {Musca sp.) commonly found among kitchen refuse and other 

 rubbish, and patiently waited to watch their manoeuvres. The man- 

 tises on perceiving the flies v\ere at once on " the alert," putting themselves 

 into their characteristic attitude; and when the flies settled within 

 reach of their formidable enemies they were seized with unfailing 

 exactitude and pi-omptness between the two foi-elegs, and devoured 

 with great avidity, not immediately, but after the lapse of a few 

 minutes. 



I kept feeding the two mantises on flies of the same kind only — 

 each devouring about seven flies a day ; and when the supply of these 

 was nearly exliausted, I put in a few specimens of the common large 

 o-reen blow-fly (Lwilia sp.). These the mantises did not seem to relish 



