CAMEL-CRICKET. 395 



ful note ; the females being entirely mute : hence the old witticism 

 attributed to that incorrigible sensualist, Xenarchus the Rhodian. 



ie Happy the cicadas' lives, 



Since they all have voiceless wives!" 



That a sound so piercing should proceed from so small a body may 

 well excite our astonishment; and the curious apparatus by which 

 it is produced has justly claimed the attention of the most celebrated 

 investigators. Reaumur and Roesel in particular have endeavoured 

 to ascertain the nature of the mechanism by which the noise is pro- 

 duced : and have found that it proceeds from a pair of concave 

 membranes, seated on eacn side the first jonits of the abdomen : 

 the large concavities of the abdomen, immediately under the two 

 broad lamellae in the male insect, are also faced by a thin, pellucid, 

 iridescent membrane, serving to increase and reverberate the 

 sound, and a strong muscular apparatus is exerted for the purpose 

 of moving the necessary organs. 



The cicada orni has a near resemblance to the preceding spe- 

 cies, and is by some naturalists regarded as a mere variety. They 

 were certain.' y contemplated as the same species by the Greek and 

 Roman writers. During the hottest part of the day in summer, the 

 males, sitting among the leaves of trees, make a shrill and continual 

 chirping ; and so strong and stridulous is their note, that a single 

 insect hung up in a cage has been found almost to drown the voices 

 of a large company. 



[Shaw. Pantolog. 



SECTION V. 



Camel-Cricket, or Praying Mantis. 

 Mantis oratorica. Linn. 



This is one of the most singular genera in the whole class of in- 

 seets; and imagination itself can hardly conceive shapes more strange 

 than those exhibited by some particular species. 



The chief European kind is the mantis oratorio of Linnaeus, or 

 camel- cricket, as it is often called. This insect, which is a stranger 

 to the British isles, is found in most of the warmer parts of Europe, 

 and is entirely of a beautiful green colour. It is nearly three inches 



