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THE AUSTRALIAN MUSEUM MAGAZINE. 



upon which it is laid, the end last con- 

 structed being somewhat elevated and 

 free. Along the top of the newly made 

 nest is situated a groove, which is sealed 

 with a substance whiter in colour than 

 the main mass. This latter, however, 

 is gradually weathered and eventu^ily 

 disappears as the nest ages. Within the 

 groove lies a longitudinal row of small 

 openings leading into tunnels which 

 penetrate to the middle of the nest, 

 where the egg layers are situated. The 

 egg mass may be somewhat likened in 

 form and position to the stone in a date. 

 The arrangement is vertical, and the 

 eggs in each layer have their an- 

 terior ends converging to one of the 

 tunnels. If a nest be cut transversely 

 these structures may be studied to 

 better advantage. The mantis, un- 

 consciously, and apparently with little 

 effort, raises an incubator for her 

 hundreds of eggs, which leaves us lost 

 in admiration of her art. 



THE YOUNG. 



The nest remains for months, re- 

 sisting 'all weathers until the day arrives 

 for the baby mantids to emerge from 

 their common cradle. When this hap- 

 pens, the young are seen to issue forth 

 from the tunnels in the nest, and each 

 is invested with a protecting skin for 

 the lanky little legs and feelers ; but 

 this sheath is almost immediately dis- 

 carded by the insects as they hang 

 suspended from the nest by minute 

 silken threads. 



The productiveness of the mantis 

 calls for some consideration. Hun- 

 dreds of eggs are deposited in a single 



nest by a female that is often able to 

 build as many as two, or two normal 

 and one half-sized nest in a single 

 Season. Despite this fact, however, 

 there is never a superabundance of 

 these useful and harmless insects. 

 Considering the enemies that the young 

 mantids have to contend with before 

 and after they reach the outer world, 

 it is not surprising that these insects 

 are comparatively scarce. As if by 

 some incomprehensible understanding 

 swarms of ants are attracted to the 

 nest just about the time that the 

 hatching commences. Even before the 

 mantids develop in the eggs, the long 

 egg-laying tube of a tiny hopping 

 chalcid wasp may desecrate their 

 abode, with the result that many wasp- 

 grubs hatch out and feed upon the 

 eggs and nest. The mantids that are 

 fortunate enough to overcome these 

 and many other difficulties at once 

 begin an active and free -roving life, 

 the early stages of which are spent in 

 frolicking about like a litter of kittens. 

 They are quarrelsome little chaps, and, 

 not content with successfully evading 

 natural enemies, will often turn upon 

 and devour one another. They also 

 search for such small prey as the aphis, 

 gradually tackling larger insects as 

 they become older and their size and 

 strength increase. Their growth is 

 slow, and, after some weeks, wing- 

 buds appear, which gradually assume 

 a length more proportionate to the 

 size of the insect. The full adult stage, 

 however, is not reached till nine to 

 twelve months after birth. 



Robert Grant, a former employee of 

 the Trustees of this Museum, recently 

 passed away at the age of sixty -nine. 

 He was born in Scotland, and while 

 carrying on his duties as a gamekeeper 

 to the Duke of Hamilton, he imbibed 

 a love for natural history which he 

 never lost. Coming to Australia as a 

 young man he worked for some time 

 as a miner, but soon abandoned that 

 work and was employed by the Trustees 



as a collector. He made many ex- 

 cursions into the wilderness of Queens- 

 land and New South Wales, bringing 

 back valuable collections and natural 

 history notes on the districts visited. He 

 was an accomplished taxidermist and in 

 this capacity was subsequently em- 

 ployed at the Museum, where many 

 of the exhibits are a testimony to his 

 craftmanship. He retired from the 

 Museum's service in 1917. 



