Jl'LV, 1904.] 



KNOWLEDGE & SCIENTIFIC NEWS. 



^W 



the species are either green or brown in colour. So that 

 when sitting motionless among foliage, or upon the bark 

 of trees, they are not only inconspicuous to such 

 enemies as birds and lizards, but are also hidden from 

 the small insects which form, in the main, their food. 

 The MantidcE are almost all sluggish in their move- 



Another view of same insect. 



ments, seeming to be aware that the needs of their life 

 will be best served by tranquillity, rather than by effort. 

 They sit motionless in the sunshine — brown species upon 

 bark, green species amongst foliage — and wait. At most 

 their activity consists in a stealthy stalking among the 

 leaves until they come within striking distance of their 

 victims. The first pair of legs in Mauiida is useless for 



I spci u's, liDwever, have been described. 'i"he colours may 

 be restricted to a certain area or may suffuse the whole 

 surface of the insect. And when these insects assume 

 I their characteristic attitudes amongst vegetation, these 

 ! colours often give them a curiously flower-like aspect. 

 t Now, it is well known that highly specialised flowers rely 

 mainly upon the aid of insects to secure cross- 

 fertilisation, and that honey is secreted as a 

 bait to attract the winged visitors. It has, 

 moreover, been demonstrated that the colours 

 and markings of flowers attract honey-gathering 

 insects. Hearing these facts in mind, it is not 

 dilficult to realise that a quaintly shaped and 

 brightly coloured Mantis, hanging motionless 

 fiinong green foliage, might, at times, be 

 mistaken by other insects for a flower. That 

 such mistakes actually occur has been vouched 

 for by several observers. 



Dr. Wallace mentions an insect {Ilymciwpiis 



liiconiis), discovered by Mr. Wood JViason, 



which attracts insects to their destruction by 



its flower-like shape and pink or white colour. 



Parts of the insect's legs are so flattened as to 



simulate the petals of the supposed flower. In 



this instance, the whole of the Mantis looks 



like an orchid, but in the case of Itloliiim 



diabolicum, from Mozambique, a drawing of 



which is exhibited in the Natural History 



Museum at South Kensington, only the under 



surface of the thorax and fore-limbs have a flower-like 



colour and form. The body, wings, and hind legs are 



greenish or brown, in harmony with the foliage by which 



they are partially hidden when the insect is lying in wait 



for a meal. 



Perhaps the most authentic instance of alluring resem- 

 blance is that described on the authority of Dr. J. Ander- 

 son. The Mantis is Gongylus gongyloides from Southern 



Raptorial Limbs of a Typical Mantid. 



walking, but is wonderfully modified to serve as 

 "clappers" for seizing prey. In the use of these limbs 

 the insects are very rapid and dexterous, not only cap- 

 turing insects which have settled upon a leaf, but even 

 grasping them when actually on the wing. The rows of 

 sharp spines with which the modified femur and tibia are 

 armed make it impossible for the prey to escape when 

 once the Mantis has seized it. 



It has been said that most of the Maniida are either 

 green or brown in colour. A few brightly-coloured 



c;fH(y2(/»s (/w«/,'i//on'''s, from Southern India. 



