240 



RArTOEIA.- 



-INSECTS.- 



-IIantid.e. 



beds and to run along the testers in pursuit of that 

 disagreeable creature. 



In the British islands we have eight or nine recorded 

 ppecies of Blaltidce. Several of these, however, have 

 been introduced, and two or three of them liave not 

 become indigenous. For instance, the Blaberiis gigan- 

 t us and Pancldora madcrm are only occasion- 

 ally seen about our dockyards. 



Tschudi describes two Cockroaches he met 

 with in Peru* as being exceedingly numerous 

 and troublesome. They are well known there, 

 and are named Cucaracha and C/nlicabra. 

 The former is found more particularly in the 

 deep regions of the forest. It is an inch and 

 a half long, is reddish-brown, and has a yellow 

 tliora.x. The Chilicahra, though smaller, is 

 much more numerous and mischievous. They 

 get into the huts of the natives, where they 

 destroy provisions, &c. It is impossible to resist 

 their tormenting attacks. A small reddish- 

 yellow ant called Puccliusisi by the Indians, 

 pursues and destroys them. A very elegant 

 little bird, like our wren, and described by 

 Tschudi under the name of Troglodytes audax, 

 wages war against these cockroaches. The 

 Indians find the sound to resemble closely 

 the words "Acahe la kirea,^'' which in their 

 language means " My task is finisliecl ;" indeed, 

 they have given this name to the Troglodytes 

 as a mark of their observation of its usefulness 

 in destroying the cockroaches. 



Section— RAPTORIA. 



Of this section there is but one family. The rapto- 

 rial legs of the insect sufficiently distinguish the section. 



Fig. 1-14. 



Family— MANTID^ {Soothsayers). 



The Mantidos are most frequently of a green colour 

 which, as they hang on the trees watching for their 

 prey, so closely resemble foliage that it is difficult 

 at times to distinguish them from the leaves. In the 



Mantis and young. 



Fig. 144, copied from Pibsel, shows the Mantis eating its 



prey, and a case of the eggs with the young coming out. 



* Travels in Peru, translated by T. Koss, p. 439, 



East, the Mantis is frequently kept in little bamboo 

 cages, and two are placed together by the natives, as 

 they are very pugnacious, and cut at each other with 

 their formidable fore feet. Fig. 4, Plate 5, represents 

 the Mantis rcUgiosa in profile. 



Roland Trimen, Esq., in an interesting letter from 

 Cape Town, dated July 18th, 1860, thus records the 

 history of the oviposition of a Mantis which he took 

 in May. During the two months it constructed four 

 nests of eggs, at intervals of about a fortnight. He 

 says — " I bad the pleasure of seeing her construct one 

 of these, and was rather sui-prised at her method of pro- 

 ceeding. I used to fancy that the eggs were arranged 

 first, and the structure coated over with cement after- 

 wards, but I found this to be a great mistake." The 

 species he describes is grass-green ; has scarlet jaws, 

 and the fore tibire and tarsi are yellow ; a band along 

 the abdomen, crimson and white. He adds — " The 

 nest is constructed all in a mass, that is to say, the 

 eggs as they emerge are completely embedded in a 

 frothy cement so as to be invisible. The emission of 



