The Praying-Mantis. 133 



It is, perhaps, needless to say, the character of 

 the Mantidae being such as it is, that the two 

 specimens at the Zoo are not confined in the same 

 case, as were they placed together the Society 

 would in all probability very shortly possess but 

 one only. They are of different ages, one having 

 arrived at the perfect winged state of maturity, 

 while the other is much more youthful, and it is 

 interesting to compare the two examples. Like all 

 the Orthoptera, the young Mantidge came into the 

 world fully equipped with six legs, and, except that 

 they are much smaller, differ very little in shape 

 and general appearance from their parents ; their 

 wings, however, are entirely wanting. The changes 

 in their development from the larval stage to that 

 of the perfect insect are gradual, being carried out 

 by a series of moults, during which the wings, 

 which first appear under the skin behind the pro- 

 thorax, increase in size with each successive moult 

 until they attain their full development in the 

 perfect insect. And their wings have this peculi- 

 arity, that the upper pair, the tegmina, are hard, 

 and form a covering for the under pair, which 

 latter are so constructed that when the insect is at 

 rest they fold together like a fan. Both tegmina 

 and wings are longer than the abdomen, upon 

 which they rest horizontally, the tegmina being 

 placed one over the other. Though not possessing 

 wings, the young Mantidae are blessed with 

 voracious appetites, and are fully as fierce and 

 bloodthirsty as their elders qualities which they 



