PRAYING INSECTS. 83 



FAMILY III. Mantidce. 



Body long and slender; front legs thickened and serrated; 

 habits predatory. 



The Mantidce, or Praying Insects, are celebrated for their habit 

 of resting on their four hind legs, with their front legs raised in 

 the air in what was long supposed to be an attitude of devotion, 

 but really in an observant attitude, and on the alert for their 

 prey. These insects are not found in England, but are very 

 common in warm countries, and several species are met with 

 in South France. The best known of these is Mantis Beligiosa, 

 Linn., a green species measuring an inch and a half or two inches 

 in length. Most of the Mantidce are of a green colour, which 

 doubtless helps to conceal them from their prey. One of the 

 prettiest species is Harpax Ocellaria, Drury, which is found on the 

 west coast of Africa, and measures about two inches across the 

 wings. The tegmina are dark green, with a large yellow eye-like 

 spot in the centre, and the tips and hind wings are transparent. 



FAMILY IV. Phasmidce. 



Body long and slender ; all the legs fitted for walking ; plant- 

 feeders. 



The Phasmidce include the Stick Insects or Spectre Insects 

 and the Leaf Insects. Many of the species have very long and 

 slender bodies and legs, and resemble dried pieces of stick. A large 

 number are apterous, and others have very short tegmina and wings, 

 which must be quite useless for flight, while in others, again, the 

 tegmina are very short, and the wings are ample. In the last 

 case the tegmina are generally of a greenish colour, while the 

 wings are often of a most delicate pink. Among the more inter- 

 esting species we may mention Cyphocrania Semirubra, Serv., from 

 Brazil, with short greenish elytra and ample pink wings, as we 

 have just described ; Phibalocera Pythonius, Westw., a green, stout, 

 wingless insect, seven or eight inches long, which has a striking 

 resemblance to a shoot of bamboo; and Lopaphus Cocophages, 

 Newp.,abrown slender insect, with very short wings and tegmina. 

 The two latter species are common in the South Sea Islands, 

 where L. Cocophages sometimes commits dreadful ravages in the 

 plantations of cocoa-nut trees. When this insect is alarmed it 

 squirts out a highly acrid fluid, which causes great pain, and some- 

 times blindness, if it reaches the eyes. Many other species of 



