UKTHOPTKKA. 



IO7 



it is no wonder that they are called Praying Mantes. But 

 the only prayer that could ever enter the mind of a Mantis 



Fig. 116. — Phasmomantis Carolina. 



would be that some unwary insect might come 

 near enough for him to grab it with his hypo- 

 critical claws, and so get a meal. Devil-horses> 

 rear-horses, and camel-crickets are other names 

 applied to these insects, because of the long, 

 slender prothorax which makes them look like 

 tiny giraffes. They are also called mule-killers> 

 from the absurd superstition that the dark-col- 

 ored saliva they eject from their mouths is fatal 

 to the mule. But they are absolutely harmless 

 to both man and beast. They are mostly tropical 

 insects, and often have wings that resemble the 

 leaves of trees. Our common species, Phasmo- 

 mantis Carolina (Phas-mo-man'tis) (Fig. 116), is 

 confined to the Southern States. The eggs are 

 laid in masses and overlaid with a hard covering- 

 of silk; the top of the masses having the appearance of be- 

 ing braided (Fig. 117). 



Fig. 117.— 



Egg-mass of 



a Mantis. 



