THE MANTIDJE. 



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sometimes it is enlarged at the sides. There are eight or nine dorsal segments in the males and one 

 less in the females ; the extremity of the abdomen in both sexes is furnished with a pair of jointed 

 cerci. 



The species of this family, which are generally of considerable size, those of an inch long 

 being comparatively small, are almost entirely inhabitants of the warmer regions of the world, 

 only a few being found in Southern Europe, and these also occur in Africa. The three most 

 abundant European forms, met with not uncommonly in the south of France, are Empusa pauperata, 



EMPUSA PAUPERATA AND ITS METAMORPHOSES. 



with toothed antennae, which measures from two to two and a half inches in length; Mantis religiosa, a 

 species of equal size with simple antennae ; and a smaller species allied to the latter (Mantis oratoria). 

 These insects are remarkable enough by their form, but many exotic species are much more curious. 

 A very considerable number have some parts, especially the femora, dilated into leaf-like pieces, often 

 of singular form ; in others the prothorax is widened into a broad leaf-like plate, or some portion 

 of the abdomen has its margins dilated in the same fashion. The colours displayed by many species 

 when alive are exceedingly beautiful, especially the very delicate grass-green which is the general 

 colour of a great number. The hinder wings are often very brilliantly coloured, sometimes showing 

 eye-like spots of large size. In certain desert species, such as those forming the genus Eremophila, 

 the colours are, on the contrary, exceedingly sober. These last insects reside in the most barren 

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