The Bionomics of South African Insects. 299 



near it]. On the 12tli I gave her an A. ijctowa, which she 

 devoured entirely. On the 13th I gave her an A. scrcnct ; 

 she seized it and ate a good piece out of one of the hind- 

 wings. She then attacked the tliorax, but after a few 

 bites threw down the insect and began ejecting a brownish 

 h'quid from her month on to a leaf, and also wiped her 

 mouth with her legs in the usual manner. A few moments 

 after I put in a male Hypolimnas misijJj^us, Avhich she 

 soon caught and ate. Later on I put in another A. seroia, 

 but she paid no attention to it. I then put in a F. 

 demodocus, with the same result, so I removed them both. 

 On the 14th I gave her no food. On the 15th I put in 

 one A. cnccdon and one female H. misi'ppus, but no atten- 

 tion was paid to either. I eventually removed cncedon, 

 leaving misippus. Later on put in Eurytela hiarhas, and 

 left both in all night and through the next day, but 

 the Mantis would not touch them. As it was beginning 

 to show signs of weakness I released it. 



IV, Experiment ((. — March 25. Caught another female 

 Mantis [probably the same species as the last], and gave 

 her an A. ccibira, which she quickly caught. She began 

 by eating part of the fore-wing, but as she reached the 

 base of the costa dropped it suddenly. A little later, 

 while I was not watching, she took it up again and ate 

 all the body except the head and anal segment. I then 

 gave her a Charaxcs varanes and a F. demodocus, which 

 were both eaten immediately in succession. 



Experiment h. — March 26. Gave the Mantis an A. 

 cabira. The da}' being cloudy and cool, she was sluggish, 

 and it was some time before the butterfiy was caught. 

 She missed the first two strokes, catching it at the third 

 and eating it entirely. 



Experiment c. — March 27. Gave one A. cnccdon to 

 Mantis. It immediately flew right on to her, which 

 seemed to frighten her considerably, and she did not 

 attempt to catch it, but edged away when it approached. 

 This continued for a quarter of an hour, so I took the 

 eneedon out and put in a F. demodocus, which was soon 

 caught and eaten. Later on I put in a Neptis agathci ; 

 the Mantis seemed rather suspicious of it, but eventually 

 caught and ate it. I then gave her a Fentila tropiccdis, 

 which she ate, including the whole of the two fore-wings. 

 I then tried her again with the same specimen I liad 

 given her in the morning ; she caught and ate it without 



