INSECT ENEMIES OF EASTERN FORESTS 95 
Famity BLATTIDAE 
The Cockroaches 
The cockroaches can be distinguished from other families of Orthop- 
tera by their depressed, oval form; by their nearly horizontal head 
which when at rest is nearly concealed by the broad pronotum; by 
their slender depressed legs of almost equal size; and by the absence 
of an ovipositor at the end of the abdomen. 
Cockroaches live chiefly on animal and vegetable refuse. Some of 
them are found under the bark and in cavities of the wood of dead 
trees, but they are of no importance to forestry. Other species are 
serious household pests. 
Famity MANTIDAE 
The Mantids 
The mantids are medium to large-sized insects with biting mouth 
parts. By many writers the mantids are considered and treated as a 
distinct order rather than a family. They are easily recognized by 
their unusually long prothorax, sometimes nearly as long as the re- 
mainder of the body, and by their front legs, which are fitted for 
grasping their prey. The coxae of the front legs are long, and the 
femora and tibiae are armed with spines so that when the tibiae are 
folded back against the femora the spines will securely hold the prey 
seized by the mantids. 
The head is short, much wider than long, triangular, vertical, and 
loosely joined to the thorax so as to be freely movable. The eyes are 
very large, convex, and prominent. Three ocelli are located on a tri- 
angular elevation just above the insertion of the antennae. The front 
pair of wings is leathery and the hind pair membranous. 
All species feed on any insects which happen within their reach, 
usually flies, bees, or moths. They are found on the foliage of trees, 
shrubs, and other plants where they wait for their prey with their 
front legs raised (fig. 13, 4). They are sometimes called praying 
mantids because of the resemblance of their raised front legs to hands 
uphfted in prayer. Although the mantids devour a large number 
of honeybees and other beneficial insects, they probably more than 
make up for this loss by destroying a larger number of harmful ones. 
The eggs are laid in the fall of the year in large masses attached 
to twigs and covered with a tough gray or brown mucus (fig. 13, B). 
They hatch the following spring. The life cycle is completed in 1 
year through a gradual metamorphosis. 
Most of the forms are tropical, and only a few species are found 
in the Eastern States. Some of these were introduced from Europe 
or Asia. 
The Carolina mantis (Stagmomantis carolina (Johan.)) is our 
most common native species and is found from the Atlantic coast to 
eastern New Mexico and as far north as Colorado, Missouri, Illinois, 
and southern Pennsylvania. The male is grayish brown with semi- 
transparent, grayish, more or less mottled, smoky-brown outer wings. 
The body and legs are often in part greenish yellow. ‘The female 1s 
either greenish yellow with bright-green outer wings or like the male. 
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