30 
- 
Dr. G. D. H. Carpenter’s Experiments on 
always has a dark patch on the sides of the thorax; 
and being so variable, one can readily imagine the light 
colour being accentuated, until a strongly contrasted 
scheme of black-and-white, typically aposematic, 
could easily be produced. This having been attained 
it would obviously be to the advantage of the con- 
spicuous insect if further development of the distaste- 
ful quality, apparently already present toa slight degree, 
could be brought about. So that in the last stages 
this species might be as typically distasteful and 
aposematic as the Acridian No. 5, which still retains 
imperfectly formed wings.) 
Obs. 194. Sp. 19.—Mantid: while M. was dealing 
with 91, which he ate sitting on a bush, he kept 
looking with great interest at a fine 2 mantis, Zdolum 
diabolicum (19), which was hanging from the same 
branch on which he was sitting. Its head was towards 
M., and it had stretched out its fore limbs in the terri- 
fying attitude previously described, so that M. looked 
straight down upon the coloured surfaces. While he 
continued to eat 91, I made a slight movement, and the 
mantis at once wheeled round to present me with its 
coloured surfaces. At intervals I heard the curious 
sound described in Obs. 95; it is perhaps better 
described as like the noise made by drawing a hard 
edge rapidly over the fine teeth of a comb. 
I was much pleased to see that this noise actually 
was made by the mantis, by drawing the left posterior 
leg rapidly along the outer edge of the left tegmen 
(the two tegmina being slightly separated); the point 
where the leg touched the tegmen was just proximal 
to the leaf-lke expansion on the leg. Like myself, 
M. observed all this with interest while he was 
eating 91, but at last could wait no _ longer, 
dropped the remainder of 91, and seized the poor 
mantis, and devoured it very rapidly: too rapidly, 
for he was almost immediately sick! I expect the 
horny legs (for he ate even the spiny fore-legs) were 
too much for his stomach. 
(Note—It seems as if familarity with this mantis 
had bred contempt. The monkey had seen several 
of them, for they were quite abundant on the par- 
ticular low bushes where I took him to hunt. Under 
natural conditions a monkey might only come across 
