L3S 



NATURAL HISTORY READER. 



they engage in a desperate combat ; they deal each other 

 blows with their front legs, and do not leave off fighting 

 until the stronger has succeeded in eating off the other's 

 head. From their very birth the larvae attack each other. 

 In their contests, the male, being smaller than the female, 



The Praying Manti. 



is often the victim. This pugnacity of the mantis is the 

 source of amusement to children in China. Two mantids 

 are shut up together in a bamboo cage, and the young 

 heathen view with delight the inevitable battle, and the 

 resulting cannibal feast. 



