238 



THE AUSTRALIAN MUSEUM MAGAZINE. 



The Praying Mantis< 



By Gilbert Whitley. 



The Long-winged Praying Mantis. (Tenodera australasiae.) The coarser 

 fore-wings, when at rest, cover the more delicate and gauzy hind-wings. 



[Photo.— e. C. Clitton. 



PRAYING Mantids are found in 

 all the warmer countries, and 

 on account of their quaint 

 appearance and peculiar habits, have 

 excited interest since the earliest times. 

 Their grave and apparently devout 

 actions led the Greeks to apply the 

 name mantis (meaning prophet) to 

 them and for the eame reason they 

 bacame known to the Romans as 

 soothsayers. In France they have 

 been given the title of Prie Dieux 

 (pray to God) in reference to the 

 praying attitude that the forelimbs 

 so often suggest, while among the 

 practical American people they are 

 often designated Camel-Crickets or 

 Rear-Horses. To Australians they are 



sometimes known as Forest Ladies but 

 the old name mantis has stood the 

 test of common usage throughout the 

 ages, and to this now universal title 

 is often j)re fixed the word " praying." 



LEGENDARY. 



It has been claimed by the Arabs that 

 the mantids face Mecca when "praying," 

 while to the simple Hottentot tribes 

 of Africa these insects were sacred and 

 received fuU-hcarttd worship which 

 protected them from the c>nly too 

 frequent ill-use and destruction to 

 which they are so often subjected. In 

 consideration of the above facts it is 

 hardly suqirising that the mantids have 

 been responsible for the weaving of 



