34 



THE WONDER OF LIFE 



Let us take an instance. From a pale emerald-green nest, 

 sent from the Gold Coast to the Zoological Society in London, 

 there emerged a crowd of young Mantids, about four milli- 

 metres in length, which exhibited a curious mimicry. 

 ' When crawHng about the case they looked exactly like 

 a crowd of busy ants, their rapid darts and pauses recalhng 

 irresistibly the busy method of progression so characteristic 

 of these Hymenoptera '. Now, there is nothing more pro- 

 fitable for an iimocent httle insect than to be hke an ant, 

 for ants have a very bad reputation, or what corresponds 

 in the animal world to a reputation. But the interesting 

 point which was noticed by Mr. R. I. Pocock, the Superin- 

 tendent of the Gardens, was this, that it was only when they 

 were moving about that they resembled ants. When they 

 settled down they were seen in their true colours — as 

 Mantises, 'raising the fore part of the body and head, folding 

 up their fore-legs, and every now and then swaying gently 

 from side to side as if rocked by 

 the wind. While thus employed 

 they were seen to be procrypti- 

 cally coloured '. That is to say, 

 they were inconspicuous. This is 

 obviously a very interesting case ; 

 when the httle creatures were 

 resting they were hidden, and 

 when they were poking about 

 they were like ants ! Without 

 observations and experiments in 

 their natural surroundings no 

 naturahst could assert that the 

 Fig. 12.— Spider, Synemo- young Mantises are saved from 



syna formica, like an . . 



ant. (After Peckham.) elimmation by being inconspicu- 



