The Ignorance of Instinct 



as by the violent release of a clutch, the 

 Mantis terrifies the newcomer, who hesitates 

 for a moment, in her fright. Then, with the 

 sharpness of a spring, the toothed fore-arm 

 folds back on the toothed upper arm ; and the 

 insect is caught between the blades of the 

 double saw. It is as though the jaws of a 

 Wolf-trap were closing on the animal that had 

 nibbled at its bait. Thereupon, without un- 

 loosing the cruel machine, the Mantis gnaws 

 her victim by small mouthfuls. Such are the 

 ecstasies, the prayers, the mystic meditations 

 of the Prego Dieou. 



Of the scenes of carnage which the Pray- 

 ing Mantis has left in my memory, let me 

 relate one. The thing happens in front of 

 a work-yard of Bee-eating Philanthi. These 

 diggers feed their larvae on Hive-bees, whom 

 they catch on the flowers while gathering pol- 

 len and honey. If the Philanthus who has 

 made a capture feels that her Bee is swollen 

 with honey, she never fails, before storing 

 her, to squeeze her crop, either on the way 

 or at the entrance of the dwelling, so as to 

 make her disgorge the delicious syrup, which 

 she drinks by licking the tongue which her 

 unfortunate victim, in her death-agony, sticks 

 out of her mouth at full length. This pro- 

 191 



