210 GLEANINGS FROM NATURE. 



of its prey the mantis moves almost imperceptibly 

 along, stealing towards its victim like a cat approach- 

 ing a mouse. When sufficiently near, the fore leg is 

 suddenly extended to its full length and the unlucky 

 insect is immediately caught and impaled by the 

 spines between the tibiae and tarsi, carried to the 

 mouth and deliberately eaten piecemeal while yet 

 alive and struggling to escape. 



The Carolina mantis is occasionally found as far 

 north as Indianapolis, where it reaches maturity 

 about September 1st. When the two sexes are cap- 



Fig. 46 Carolina Mantis. 



tured and placed together the female soon begins to 

 feed upon her liege lord, and finally devours all por- 

 tions of him which are in the least degree digestible. 

 The eggs are grouped together in agglutinated masses 

 of 40 or more and covered with a coarse web of silk, 

 the top of the mass then appearing as if its compo- 

 nent parts were braided together. In this manner 

 the species survives the winter and in May, when in- 

 sect life begins to abound, the young emerge and use 

 their prominent staring eyes to good advantage in 

 seeking plant lice and other minute forms which fur- 

 nish them their first of many meals. 



