the Biology of Sphodromantis guttata. 93 



also eat wasps, Syrphids, small Heteroptera and grass- 

 hoppers. They appeared somewhat afraid of butterflies, 

 but when hungry attacked them. They would not eat 

 caterpillars, and showed a strong dislike to Tipulids and 

 Coccinellids. It is possible, however, that these are un- 

 manageable rather than distasteful. A half-grown nymph 

 consumed a whole bluebottle in 1H minutes. Occasion- 

 ally one would capture one fly while still eating another, 

 in which case the second fly was retained under the free 

 arm till the first was finished. One larva was observed to 

 take up a fly which had been dead some days and had 

 dried up; nevertheless, with great difficulty it was de- 

 voured completely. On another occasion one was seen 

 biting pieces off some dry hawthorn leaves. All the stages 

 readily drank drops of water, and doubtless in the wild 

 state are in the habit of sucking up the dew. 



Cannibalism rapidly reduced the number of larvae, and 

 soon only a very few were left. Sometimes a fight would 

 be started by accident. Thus, in one case, a larva in 

 king at a fly caught the tail of a smaller larva and bit 

 off one of the cerci. The latter retaliated by removing 

 both antennae from the larger individual. Although they 

 were separated, the smaller one was found partially devoured 

 on the following day. 



On September 2 a full-fed nvmph cast its last skin and 

 became an adult female. This fed on miscellaneous 1 used a 

 until October 24, when it made its first ootheca. 



Oothecae, which differ greatly in different species, have 

 been frequently described— Mcmtis religiosa by Pagenstecher 

 (1864) and Giardina (1898 and 1899); Hierodula saussuni 

 by Kershaw (1907); StagmomaMis Carolina by Rau 

 (1913); Miomantis savignyi by Adair (1914, i and n) : 

 Fischeria baetica by Adair (1914. ii); Sphofoomcmtis i guttata 

 (bioculata) bv Adair (1914, ii) ; Gangylus gon^yl 'oidei ? by 

 C E Williams (1904) ; and unidentified species by Shelf ord 

 (1909) and by Waterhouse (1912). The most complete 

 account is that of Giardina (1899), with whose conclusions, 

 however, we cannot entirely agree. 



It will be convenient here to give a short account of the 

 ootheca of Sphodromantis guttata, in order that the opera- 

 tions of the female described below may be better under- 

 stood. Transverse, longitudinal vertical and longitudinal 

 horizontal sections are shown in text fig. 2, 1. II and III. and 

 the letters below refer to these. The ootheca consists of a 



