Lhe Praying Mantis. 427 
carbon, and quickly plug it up by packing clay in the 
hole and on the nest. The liquid will kill the ants. This 
better be done when the ants are mostly in their nest. 
THE COW-KILLER, 
This ant-like insect, Mutilla ‘coccinea (Fig. 216), has 
been sent me from Illinois and’ the South as far as Texas, 
It is a formidable enemy of thé bees, The male has wings 
and no sting. The female has no wings, but is possessed 
of a powerful sting. She-is an inch (25 mm.) long, very 
hairy, and black, except the top of her head and thorax, 
and a broad basal band and the tip of the upper part of her 
Fie, 216. 
abdomen, which are bright red. A central band of black 
divides the red spaces of the abdomen. The entire under 
part of the body and all the members are black. 
So hard and dense is the chitinous crust of these insects 
that they enter the hives fearlessly, and unmindful of stings, 
deliberately kill the bees and feed on the young. The 
males are said to sting. This is certainly a mistake. The 
sting is a modified ovipositor—an organ not possessed by 
males. These insects belong to the family Mutillide, so 
called because the females are wingless. They are closely 
allied in structure to the ants, which they much resemble. 
THE PRAYING MANTIS, 
This strange insect I have received from Indiana and 
other Southern and Western States. Its scientific name is 
Mantis Carolina, Linn. It is very predacious, and the 
female has been known to eat up her mate immediately 
after the sexual act. No wonder that they make our friends 
of the hive contribute to their support. This insect (Fig. 
