142 



MANTIS TRIBE. PHASMID^E, OR SPECTRE INSECTS. 



names commonly given to the Insects are such as to express this. 

 Thus the best-known species, which is very common in the south 

 of France and Italy (Fig. 364), lias received the name of 

 Mantis rdigiosa, the Praying Mantis, or Soothsayer ; and is 

 termed by the French prie-Dieu. This is regarded by the Turks 

 as an object of superstitious veneration; and many absurd stories 

 are on record, in regard to its habits. The peculiar attitude 

 in question, however, is nothing else than the position in which 

 the prey is most readily seized ; the front of the thorax being 

 elevated, and the two fore-legs being held up together like a pair 

 of arms, prepared to seize any animal that may fall within their 

 reach. These insects are extremely voracious ; and, if kept 

 together without food, they will fight until one is killed, the 

 victor then devouring his conquered adversary. The eggs are 

 included in a capsule, as in the Blattidee. 



667. The third family of the Cursoria, that of PHASMID^E, 

 or Spectre Insects, is also restricted to warm climates ; and 

 consists of a small number of extremely curious species, com- 

 monly known under the names of Walking- Sticks, Walking- 

 Leaves^ &c., from their resemblance to those objects. Their 

 whole structure indicates a sluggish mode of life ; they subsist 

 solely upon vegetables, and crawl slowly among the branches 

 of low shrubs, devouring the young shoots. In fact, their 

 mode of life bears a strong analogy to that of the Sloths among 



Mammalia. Their 

 means of escape 

 from enemies con- 

 sist entirely in their 

 very close resem- 

 blance to the ob- 

 jects in the midst 

 of which they live. 

 Some of them are 

 destitute of wings, 

 and have the ap- 

 pearance of dead 

 twigs ; the legs being generally extended in a straight line so as 



FIG. 365. PHASMA (BACTERIA) FRAGILIS, OR WALKING-STICK. 



