232 SYSTEMATIC ARRANGEMENT. 



upwards of four inches in length, occur in South 

 America. 



The eggs of the Mantidse, which are very numer- 

 ous, are enveloped when first laid in a soft substance, 

 which, by exposure to the air, soon acquires the con- 

 sistency of parchment. They are disposed, as in 

 the family last described, in two rows ; are of an 

 elongated form and yellow colour. The packet is 

 attached by an adhesive gum to the stalk of a plant. 



As a generic designation, the term MANTIS is now 

 limited to such members of the family as have the 

 antennae simple, head without an angular projection 

 in front, eyes hemispherical, anterior legs long and 

 falciform, the others slender and without spines. Many 

 of them are of considerable size, and with a very few 

 exceptions, extra-European. 



MANTIS (HARPAX) OCELLARIA. 



PLATE VII. Fig. 3. 

 Drury's Exotic Insects. PL 43. fig. I. 

 HEAD and thorax yellowish brown, inclining to green ; 

 tegmina transparent at the tips, the remainder 

 green, the centre of each marked with a yellow eye- 

 like spot, encircled with black ; wings transparent, 

 the costa tinged with green ; fore-legs yellowish 

 brown ; the middle and hinder thighs with a small 

 expansion at the extremity, and two spurs on the 

 tibiae. 



This handsome species inhabits the Coasts of Africa. 



