392 THE MANTIDd!, OR PRAYING INSECTS. 



so faithfully represent. As if to add to the singularity of these creatures and to keep up the 

 illusion, the eggs of several species are ribbed and colored precisely like the seeds of certain 

 plants. 



The Phasmidce embrace some very extraordinary creatures, the Walking Sticks and 

 Spectres being prominent and familiar members of this family. Our North American species 

 of Walking Stick (Diapheromerafemorata) is not over two inches in length of body, resem- 

 bling the larger species of the East Indies. 



One of the singular species which hare such a wonderful resemblance to fallen leaves is 

 the LEAF INSECT. The peculiar, leaf-like elytra, and also the singular manner in which the 

 limbs are furnished with wide, flattened appendages, in order to carry out the leafy aspect, 

 have often astonished people. Only the females possess the wide, veined wing-covers, those 

 of the male being comparatively short. The wings, however, are entirely absent in the female, 

 while in the opposite sex they are very wide and reach to the extremity of the body. One of 

 these has lived for a considerable time in a greenhouse. 



THE Mantidce, or Praying Insects, also belong to the Orthoptera. These creatures derive 

 their name from their habit of sitting with their long and flattened fore-legs held up and joined 

 as if in the attitude of prayer. The form of this insect can be best seen from the drawing. 

 So remarkable an insect could not fail to be the subject of many wild fables, some of which 



^c 



PRAYING INSECT. Mantis religioea. (Female, and a chaster of eggs from v/h\cb some larvse are making their exit. Natural size.) 



may take rank as popular superstitions. For example, it was long thought that if any one 

 lost his way in a forest and met with a MANTIS, he had only to ask the insec-t to direct him on 

 his road, when the obliging creature would stretch out one of its arms and point out the proper 

 direction. According to old legends, one of these insects, being met by St. Francis Xavier 

 and commanded to chant a prayer as well as to act it, responded to the request of the saint by 

 singing a canticle we presume in the Latin language. 



Unfortunately for the character of the Mantis, the real reason for holding up its feet is, to 

 be in readiness for seizing its prey or to defend itself from an enemy, the creature being vora- 

 cious as a wolf and combative as a game-cock. It feeds chiefly upon other insects, stealing 

 upon them quietly and catching them in its claws by a rapid movement, just as the loris takes 

 its winged prey ; and should it meet with another of the same sex and species, the two begin 

 to fight with dauntless courage, cutting at each other with their fore-legs with the skill of 

 practised swordsmen, and making their strokes so truly and with such force, that they have 

 been known to sever the body of their antagonist with a single blow. The winner, that is to 

 say the survivor, generally consummates his victory by devouring the body of his slaughtered 

 foe. 



The Chinese are fond of keeping these insects in cages and matching them against each 

 other like game-cocks or bull-dogs. These creatures are said by some authors to be cowardly, 

 because, if ants are put into their cages, they endeavor to escape in all directions. True as 

 the fact may be, the inference is quite unwarrantable, the Mantis being entirely justified in 



