IN CAMP. 



wind. The purpose of the mantis is 

 clear. The similarity to a flower attracts 

 insects, apparently chiefly flies, on the 

 search for honey. Alighting with this 

 object in view, if indeed the fly is ever 

 permitted to alight, lo and behold the 

 flower is in full and active motion and 

 the drop scene closes down on the life 

 of that unwary fly ! 



The female mantis lays her eggs in a 

 curious manner. You may have seen 

 attached to twigs or grass stems in the 

 jungle filmy, frothy, foamy masses of a 

 delicate green or yellow colouring 

 looking like an elongated lump of 

 coagulated soap suds. The mass is 

 very soft and can be easily crumbled 

 between the fingers. This is the egg 

 case of the mantis. She lays her 

 eggs in a frothy mass which takes this 

 shape and dries and hardens sufficiently 

 in the air to retain it. The little mantises 

 on hatching out dropout of the egg case 

 which by then has dried and shrunk to 



