Messrs. Williams and Buxton on Sphodromantis guttata 87 



ably brought about by the vibration made by one larva 

 as it emerges, exciting the larvae in the neighbouring eggs. 

 We have noticed in other insects * that eggs may be ready 

 to hatch and yet wait for some external stimulus. That 

 all the eggs do not mature at the same moment is shown 

 by emergence occurring on several successive days from 

 the same ootheca. 



The Mantis larvae invariably made their appearance 

 head first; emergence was rapid, but there was a slight 

 pause after the head ' and thorax had protruded from 

 beneath the flap on the dorsal surface of the egg mass. 

 Then the head was jerked backwards and the larva. freed 

 itself suddenly. It was unable to use its legs, and hung 

 down over the edge of the ootheca on a double thread, 

 which in some specimens was as much as two inches long. 

 Brongniart (1882, p. 450) states that they hang in this 

 position for some days; while Giardina (1899, p. 324) con- 

 siders that those which remain hanging for long invariably 

 die, and that normally they leave the ootheca by " break- 

 ing the filaments " at the entrance of the passage. All 

 those under our observation hung down for a few minutes 

 on the end of the thread and then moulted, as will be 

 described later. In no case were the threads broken, but 

 remained attached to the empty skin. 



A larva removed from the egg just before hatching is 

 shown in Plate VII. It is about 4 - 5 mm. long, and the 

 prothorax is shorter than the head (prothorax '68 mm; 

 head '84 mm., measured dorsally). The head is not bent 

 down on to the surface of the meso- and meta-sternum as 

 described and figured in a Chinese species by Waterhouse 

 (1912, p. cxxvi), but the two lateral projections of the 

 head which bear the eyes are pressed diagonally (not 

 folded) back against the sides of the prothorax. The 

 larva emerges from the ootheca in this condition, except 

 that in the passage along the exit tunnel the legs and 

 antennae become unfolded and stretch out behind. On 

 emergence it is yellow with paler limbs and dark greenish 

 blue eyes; there are red spots at each femoro-tibial joint, 

 and also mid-dorsally on each thoracic tergite. 



On the anterior portion of the head the chitin is thickened, 



* On one occasion when examining some eggs of a Raphidia, no 

 sooner had they been disturbed from their original habitat and 

 placed on a slide for examination than they all hatched. (Williams, 

 C. B., "Entomologist," 1913, p. 7.) 



