842 MR, NELSON ANNANDALE ON THE [ Dee. 4, 
flower was not a flower at all, but a Mantis. Even then it betrayed 
itself by turning round and staring me in the face in the 
manner characteristic of the Mantide. When I held the branch 
on which the insect had established itself in my hand, I could not 
tell exactly where animal tissue commenced and where flower 
ended, so perfectly was the one assimilated to the other, not only 
in colour but in surface texture, and perhaps even to some degree 
in structure. The Mantis had ensconced itself in the very centre of 
the inflorescence, a position which it never assumed in the three days 
during which it remained alive in my hands : it will be noticed in the 
fioures ( (pp. 840, 841), which are from photographs taken from life at 
Aring, that the insect is clinging to the edve of a bunch of flowers. 
The attitude which it adopted did not change with its position in the 
inflorescence. In all cases, so long as the. insect was on the watch 
for prey, the abdomen was bent backwards until its dorsal surface 
almost touched that of the thorax. The head and thorax were 
held upright, and the fore limbs in front of them, in the ordinary 
“praying” attitude of the Mantide. The other two pairs of legs, 
by which it clung to the flowers, were disposed round the upturned 
abdomen, more or less at- right angles to the main axis of the body. 
Sometimes this was the same as that of the inflorescence, but often 
it was at an angle to it; for the Mantis seemed indifferent as to 
whether its head or one of its sides was uppermost. When once 
2 position had been taken up, it was never changed so long as the 
insect remained on that particular inflorescence. Perfect as was the 
concealment thus effected, | cannot say that the Mantis imitated a 
single flower or part of a single flower with any great accuracy. 
Perhaps the upturned abdomen might be taken to represent a bud 
not yet opened, while the darker expansions on the femora showed a 
greater resemblance to petals which had already unfurled themselves, 
Phe petals of Melasioma, however, are more ‘elongated than these 
structures on the legs of the Mantis, which are almost circular in 
shape, though their diameter i is as great as, if not greater than, that 
of the floral structures which they represent. What I can say 
with certainty is, that a most marvellous resemblance is produced 
between the insect Hymenopus bicornis and part of an inflorescence 
of Melasioma polyanthum when the tlower and the insect are 
combined, as they sometimes are in nature. I cannot say that 
they are always ‘found together. An interesting point in con- 
nection with this simulation of the flowers is the part played by 
the green bar across the thorax of the Mantis. This bar divided 
the prothorax from the rest of the body, and apparently separated 
the insect into two parts, which appeared to have no connection 
with one another on the inflorescence. In no ordinary in- 
florescence of this plant are the flowers large enough to afford an 
expanse of uniform coloration of the size of “Hymenopus. 
During an unsuccessful search for further specimens in the 
buffalo-lawn at Aring, the Mantis was placed, together with the 
inflorescence to which it still clung, in a large box lined with dead 
leaves. On the lid being taken off from this. after about half an 
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