26 



TRUE TALES OF THE INSECTS. 



Mantidse invariably imitate the colour of the spots 

 which they inhabit, and as the greater number of species 

 live on plants and shrubs, they have a green colour. 

 Green is almost the normal case among mantidse. An 

 exception to the green kinds that habitually repose upon 

 vegetation is comprised by those which, imitating dead 

 leaves, take a brown colour. 



But there is another exception to this rule of colour 

 among the plant-types. Sometimes Mantis religiosa is 

 grey. This deviation may be probably regarded as due 

 merely to the influence of the sun in arid places, where 

 vegetation is itself parched and scanty ; but it appears to 

 become hereditary in the spots where it is oftenest pro- 

 duced, and where foliage is well-nigh wanting. In sandy 



FIG. 8. A ground Mantis (Ercmiaphila typhori), from Egypt. 



and rocky desert districts it occurs, and thus a race is 

 developed which, in assimilating itself with the general 

 artistic effects or colour of its environment, passes 



