THE MANTIN^E. 345 



former are carnivorous, and of a very sanguinary and 

 rapacious disposition. They are long and slender : the 

 head transverse and small, with a pair of long, slender, 

 setaceous antennae at the junction of the head and 

 thorax : the latter is attenuated, but dilates immediately, 

 forming a linear, parallel, somewhat flattened tube, with 

 its sides margined ; and which has an articulated flexi- 

 bility at its junction with the meso thorax, and is 

 more than a third the length of the body. Attached 

 to this in front, and approximate to the head, are a pair 

 of comparatively stout legs, the peculiar construction 

 of which, adapted for the seizure and retention of prey, 

 has acquired for them the name of raptorial. The 

 insect itself being slow, and without much muscular 

 energy, and its nature requiring a large supply of food, 

 it is furnished with this organisation, that, when lurking 

 insidiously about, its purpose is disguised under its 

 form, which considerably resembles the parts of a plant, 

 although not so much so as we shall observe in the 

 Phasmince; and when arrived within a convenient dis- 

 tance of its prey, it darts forth these limbs and captures 

 it. To give them the power of greater expansion, the 

 coxae are elongated, being nearly as long as the femur; 

 and the trochanters are so articulated, that they admit 

 of great variety of motion. The tibiae, which are half 

 the length of the femora, fold back upon them, which 

 admits of the two latter acting in concert as prehen- 

 sorial organs; and that they may effectually secure their 

 prey, they are densely serrated longitudinally with a 

 double row of short and acute teeth ; and the tibia is 

 furnished, besides, at its extremity, with a long curved 

 hook, and, together with the long tarsus, which is at- 

 tached externally to the latter, thus acquiring additional 

 and wider range of action, draw conjunctively within 

 the scope of the raptorial apparatus their destined 

 victims. A striking illustration of how easily man is 

 deluded by hypocrisy and false appearances, is afforded 

 by the variety of names and religious character this 

 blood-thirsty creature has acquired in all countries 



