THE DEVIL'S RIDING-HORSE (MANTID&). n 



In repose, be it observed, the three principal portions 

 which go to make up the leg are all folded back the one 

 upon the other, and obtain concealment beneath the 

 prothorax ; the coxae, in contact with each other, being 

 enclosed between the under side of the prothorax and 

 the femora. 



The front legs may likewise assist their owners in 

 walking, as the existence of 

 normal tarsi betokens, and the 

 sharp claw of the tibiae may 

 even be useful in climbing the 

 trunks of trees, but the principal 

 function of these limbs is as a 

 powerful weapon for the capture 

 of prey. 



The intermediate and pos- 

 terior pairs of legs are without 

 distinction slender, generally 

 long, and fitted only for walk- 

 ing ; normally cylindrical, they 

 sometimes are provided with 

 membranous lobes of variable 

 form. 



FIG. 4. A stick-like Mantis 

 Next tO the enlarged front (Leptocola gracilima} with atro- 



legs, with their adaptation to a P hiedwin s s - 



particular end, the most striking lineament of these 



insects is the long prothorax, it being the longest 



