328 Enemies of Bees — Praying Mantis. 



enemy of the 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 m, m) 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 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 Mutillidse, so called because the 

 females are wingless. They are closely allied in structure to 

 the ants, which they mucu 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 con- 

 tribute to their support. This insect (Fig 190) is a sort of 



Fig. 190. 



non-descript. In the South it is known as Devil's Race- 

 Horse. It is a corpulent ' ' walking-stick" with wings. In fact 

 is closely related to our own ' ' walking-sticks" of theNorth. Its 

 anterior legs are very curious. As it rests upon them, it ap- 

 pears as if in the attitude of devotion, hence the name Pray- 

 ing Mantis, It might well be preying mantis, These pecu- 



