142 A NATURALIST IN BORNEO 



members of the genus Metallyticus* however, are an 

 exception. These are brilliant metallic green, with red 

 reflections, or bluish-black insects inhabiting the 

 Malayan islands and peninsula ; they are flattened like 

 cockroaches, and with their long legs they scurry along 

 on the floor of the jungle or over the bark of trees at 

 a great pace ; the young, which are chequered with 

 white or orange on the back, I have taken in decay- 

 ing wood. These Mantids prey almost entirely on Cock- 

 roaches, and they pursue their victims with great 

 vigour, as I was amused to witness when I placed 

 Cockroaches in a cage in which was confined a 

 specimen of M. semiceneus. This creature was quite 

 indifferent to the Butterflies put in its cage, and I was 

 puzzled how to feed it until it occurred to me that 

 the lack of protective coloration and the swiftness of 

 the insect might be associated with active predatory 

 habits. A diet of Cockroaches was much appreciated 

 by my captive, and the pace at which a despairing 

 Cockroach and its relentless enemy careered all over 

 the cage had to be seen to be believed. 



As is well known, the Mantidce form rather elaborate 

 egg-cases, which they attach to blades of grass or stems 

 of plants. In the sub-family Mantince these egg-cases, 

 which are somewhat pear-shaped, look something like 

 small sponges of dense and springy texture. If one 

 of these cases be cut open it is seen that there is an 

 inner mass of eggs surrounded by a thick outer cover- 

 ing of the spongy material. The central cavity con- 

 taining the eggs is divided by numerous membranous 

 partitions into a series of flattened chambers, each 



1 Metallyticus, Westw. (= Metalleutica, Burin.) in Kirby's Syn- 

 onymic Catalogue of Orthoptera, I. (1904), p. 208. E. B. P. 



