THE MANTIS. 485 



startling fidelity the forms, colours, and even the accidental variations of leaves and 

 flowers, thus exhibiting another phase of that wonderful adaptive power which gives to 

 many flowers, such as the orchids, a striking resemblance to bees, butterflies, and other 

 insects. In this instance, the resemblance to leaves is not only due to the peculiar 

 outline and the leaf-like nervures, but to the presence of certain spots which look exactly 

 like the tracks of leaf-mining or leaf-devouring caterpillars. These creatures belong to 

 the same family as the locusts, and their habitation is Brazil. 



IN the upper left-hand corner of the illustration on page 483 may be seen a strange- 

 looking insect, with an attenuated body and long slender limbs. This is a WALKING-STICK 

 INSECT, one of a most remarkable family of Orthoptera, none of which are found excepting 

 in the hottest parts of the earth. This insect belongs to the family of Phasmidee, an 

 appropriate title, derived from a Greek word signifying a spectre, many of these creatures 

 being as it were the mere unsubstantial visions or shadowy outlines of insects. 



The chief point of interest in these creatures is their marvellous external resemblance 

 to certain portions of the vegetable kingdom, some assuming the forms of a broken branch 

 and twigs with such extraordinary fidelity that the most practised eye is often deceived, 

 and others taking not only the flat outline and half curl of fallen leaves, but even repro- 

 ducing their peculiar nervures and soft vegetable green with such marvellous exactness, 

 that those who see them for the first time can hardly be made to believe that they are not 

 the objects which they so faithfully represent. As if to add to the singularity of these 

 creatures and to keep up the illusion, the eggs of several species are ribbed and coloured 

 precisely like the seeds of certain plants. 



IN the illustration on page 486 is represented a LEAF INSECT, one of the singular 

 species which have such a wonderful resemblance to fallen leaves. The peculiar leaf-like 

 elytra may be seen on reference to the engraving, as also the singular manner in which 

 the limbs are furnished with wide flattened appendages, in order to carry out the leafy 

 aspect. Only the females possess the wide, veined wing-covers, those of the male being 

 comparatively short. The wings, however, are entirely absent in the female, while in the 

 opposite sex they are very wide and reach to the extremity of the body. One of these 

 insects has been brought to England, and lived for a considerable time in a greenhouse. 



THE Mantidae, or Praying Insects, also belong to the Orthoptera. These creatures 

 derive their name from their habit of sitting with their long and flattened fore-legs held 

 up and joined as if in the attitude of prayer. So remarkable an insect could not fail to 

 be the subject of many wild fables, some of which may take rank as popular superstitions. 

 For example, it was long thought that if any one lost his way in a forest and met with a 

 MANTIS, he had only to ask the insect to direct him on his road, when the obliging 

 creature would stretch out one of its arms and point out the proper direction. According 

 to old legends, one of these insects, being met by St. Francis Xavier and commanded to 

 chant a prayer as well as to act it, responded to the request of the saint by singing a 

 canticle we presume in the Latin language. 



Unfortunately for the character of the Mantis, the real reason for holding up its feet 

 is, to be in readiness for seizing its prey or to defend itself from an enemy, the creature 

 being voracious as a wolf and combative as a gamecock. It feeds chiefly upon other 

 insects, stealing upon them quietly and catching them in its claws by a rapid movement, 

 just as the loris takes its winged prey ; and should it meet with another of the same sex 

 and species, the two begin to fight with dauntless courage, cutting at each other with their 

 fore-legs with the skill of practised swordsmen, and making their strokes so truly and 

 with such force, that they have been known to sever the body of their antagonist with a 

 single blow. The winner, that is tu say the survivor, generally consummates his victory 

 by devouring the body of his slaughtered foe. 



The Chinese are fond of keeping these insects in cages and matching them against 

 each other like gamecocks or bulldogs. These creatures are said by some authors to be 

 cowardly, because, if ants are put into their cages, they endeavour to escape in all 

 directions. True as the fact may be, the inference is quite unwarrantable, the Mantis 



