590 



ARTICULATA. 



The warlike disposition of tlie Mantis is j)ut to a curious use in China, these insects being 

 kept ill liamboo cages fur prize-tijjjhts, like figliting-cocks. At these exhibitions two of them are 

 placcil face to face; tliey raise their wings, their bodies tremble, and with the utmost fury they 

 rush upon each other. They use their long fore-legs like sabers, giving blow upon blow; some- 

 times the fight lasts several minutes. The victor then devours his enemy, which, all things con- 

 sidered, is a mueh more rational termination of a duel than is common among men. Were it 

 introduced into the human code of honor, and the victor required to cat his victim, it would 

 greatly tend to do away with cue of our fashionable barbarisms. 



THE WALKIXG-LEAF. 



THE PHASMINA. 

 This tribe includes some curious insects, one species of which is the Walking-Leaf, PhijlUum 

 siccifoUum, in which the body is flat and thin, and the wings form large, leaf-like organs, covering 

 the whole abdomen, and furnished with regularly reticulated nervures, which give them exactly 

 the appearance of a leaf. This leafy structure pervades the whole animal ; the legs, especially 

 the thighs, being always foliaceous. There are several other species in this country and in Europe. 

 In the Walking-Stick, Phasma baculus, the body is much elongated, cylindrical, and usually 



of a dingy brownish color, so as 

 closely to resemble the dried twig 

 of a tree. This singular insect is 

 quite common in Europe. One 

 species, the Sj}cctnciiifemo7-atum, 

 is frequently seen in the South- 

 ern States, and is occasionally 

 found in parts of New York and 

 New England. 



THE ACHETINA. 



Of this tribe the Common 

 Cricket, Acheta Jo)nestica, the 

 noisy little denizen of the kitchen- 

 hearth, may serve as an example. 

 During the colder months these 

 THE FiELD-cKicKET. Insccts scck thc habitations of , 



