THE DEVIL'S RIDING-HORSE (MANTID^E). 35 



their extremity foliaceous dilatations, and the abdomen 

 is dilated and possessed of small projections. These 

 insects, in the form and structure of the elytra, by 

 the lobes on the sides of the abdomen, and their colour 

 like a faded leaf, and in other ways, approach near to 

 the Acanthops. 



In the genus Gongylus the prothorax is wonderfully 

 elongated, as it were into a slender stem, but dilated in 

 leaf form above the anterior legs ; the head terminates 

 in a double leaflet ; the elytra widen abruptly at the 

 base they are longer and demi-membranous among the 

 males, opaque among the females ; the thighs of the two 

 posterior pairs of legs carry at their extremity three 

 rounded lobes ; and the abdomen is expanded (see 

 Fig. u). 



Alluring Colouration and Aggressive Mimicry. 



The Special Aggressive Resemblance of mantidse 

 assumes yet another phase the disguise is used for more 

 than concealment, and does more than hide the insect from 

 its prey ; it may even serve as a direct means of securing 

 the latter, attracting them by simulating some object 

 which is to them of particular value. Such appearances, 

 which observation has failed to discover in many cases 

 besides the Mantidae in the realm of insects, Dr. Wallace 



