254 NATURAL HISTORY. 



racious animals, troublesome as they are here, are vastly 

 more so in some other countries. It is said that some 

 houses in St. Petersburg became so infested with them 

 that no one could live in them, and they were burned 

 down to destroy these insects. 



441. Earwigs are little insects having a pair of nippers, 

 shutting like scissors, at the hinder end of the body. 

 They eat both fruit and flowers, disfiguring the latter 

 with holes. They are very timid, running for some crev- 

 ice whenever disturbed, and thinking that they are safe 

 if they put their heads under cover, and thus get out 

 of sight of danger. They are apt, when frightened, to 

 plunge down into the bottom of a flower, if they happen 

 to be on one, leaving, however, their curious forked tails 

 standing up among the stamens. Their name is not an 

 appropriate one, for they have really never been known 

 to enter the human ear. These insects are very differ- 

 ent from the animal so often called by this name in this 

 country, which is really not an insect. 



442. Among the Raptoria is that singular insect the 

 Mantis Religiosa, or Praying Mantis, Fig. 199. It is so 



Fig. 199. Mantis Religiosa. 



called from the attitude which it assumes when it is 

 watching for its prey. The front of its thorax is raised, 

 and the two fore legs are held up together, like a pair 

 of arms, ready to seize any insect that may come within 

 its reach. These insects are extremely voracious. If 

 two are kept together without food, they fight until one 

 is killed, and the victor devours his adversary. Fights 



