The Mantis: her Nest 



impassively endures all the indiscretions of 

 which I am guilty as an observer. And yet 

 things do not go quite as I could wish, for 

 the operation is too rapid and is too difficult 

 to follow. 



The end of the abdomen is immersed the 

 whole time in a sea of foam, which prevents 

 us from grasping the details of the process 

 with any clearness. This foam is greyish- 

 white, a little sticky and almost like soapsuds. 

 When it first appears, it adheres slightly to 

 a straw which I dip into it, but, two minutes 

 afterwards, it is solidified and no longer 

 sticks to the straw. In a very short time, 

 its consistency is that which we find in an 

 old nest. 



The frothy mass consists mainly of air 

 imprisoned in little bubbles. This air, which 

 gives the nest a volume much greater than 

 that of the Mantis' belly, obviously does not 

 come from the insect, though the foam 

 appears at the entrance of the genital or- 

 gans; it is taken from the atmosphere. The 

 Mantis, therefore, builds above all with air, 

 which is eminently suited to protect the nest 

 against the weather. She discharges a sticky 

 substance, similar to the caterpillars' silk- 

 fluid; and with this composition, which amal- 



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