ORDER VI. ORTHOPTERA.—SPECTRES, CRICKETS. 295 
“This little creature is considered of so divine a nature, that to a child 
who asks it its way, it points it out by stretching out one of its legs, and 
rarely or never makes a mistake.” 
In the eyes of the Languedoe peasants the Mantis religiosa is almost 
sacred. They call it Prega Diow (Prie Diew), and believe firmly that it 
_performs its devotions — its attitude, when it is on the watch for its prey, re- 
sembling that of prayer. Settled on the ground, it raises its head and 
thorax, clasps together the joints of its front legs, and remains thus motion- 
less for hours together. But only let an imprudent fly come within reach 
of our devotee, and you will see it stealthily approach it, like a cat who is 
watching a mouse, and with so much precaution that you can scarcely see 
that it is moving. Then, all of a sudden, as quick as lightning, it seizes its 
victim between its legs, provided with sharp spines, which cross each other, 
conyeys it to its mouth, and devours it. Our make-believe Nun, Preacher, 
our Prega Diou, is nothing better than a patient watcher and pitiless de- 
stroyer. 
Allied to the above is the subgenus Phasma— the Spectres. 
a very curious, filiform body, resembling a stick. 
They have 
Some species are a foot 
in length, and, notwithstanding their remarkable and monstrous shapes, are 
very harmless creatures. They love to repose in the sun, with their lone 
stick-like legs stretched out in front. From their extraordinary appearance 
they are called “ Devil’s Horses,” “ Phantoms,” and “ Walking-sticks.” 
The second family of Orthoptera comprises the Sultatoria, or Leapers 
—the Crickets, Grasshoppers, and Locusts. 
All these insects resemble each other in the disproportion which exists be- 
tween their hind legs and the other pairs. Another characteristic which is 
common to them consists in the song of the males. This song, so well known, 
which seems to have for its object to call the females, is nothing but a sort 
of stridulation, or screeching, produced by the rubbing together of the wing 
cases, or elytra. But the mechanism by which this is produced varies a 
little in all the three kinds. With the Crickets, the whole surface of the 
wing cases is covered with thick nervures, very prominent and very hard, 
which cause the noise the insect produces in rubbing the elytra one against 
the other. With the Locusts, there exists only at the base of the elytra a 
transparent membrane, called the mzrror, which is furnished with prominent 
And, lastly, in the Crickets, 
The thighs, be- 
nervures, and produces the screeching noise. 
the thighs and elytra are provided with very hard ridges. 
ing passed rapidly and with force over the nervures of the elytra, produce 
the sound in the same way as a fiddle-bow when drawn across a violin. 
With all these insects the male alone is endowed with the faculty of pro- 
ducing sound. 
