long and the front femora and tibiae are armed with strong spines 
and fold together to form a pincer. Praying mantids are preda- 
ceous and feed on a wide variety of other insects. To capture their 
prey, they usually lie in wait for it, holding their front legs in an 
upright position. Once the prey comes within reach, the armed 
tibiae and femora shoot out with lightning-like speed to grasp it. 
Because of their habit of holding their front legs in an upright 
position, these insects are commonly called “praying mantids.”’ 
Praying mantids lay their eggs in the fall in paper-maché-like 
egg cases or ootheca, each of which contains 200 or more eggs. 
Hatching occurs the following spring; there is one generation per 
year. 
The Carolina mantid, Stagmomantis carolina (Johannson), is 
the most common species in the Southern States. It occurs from 
the Atlantic Coast to New Mexico and north to Nebraska, Penn- 
sylvania, and Illinois. Adults are 75 to 100 mm. long. The male is 
grayish-brown with smoky-brown outer wings and often with 
greenish-yellow body and legs. Females are either colored like the 
males or are greenish-yellow with bright green forewings. S. flori- 
densis Davis, a somewhat more slender and longer species, occurs 
in Florida. 
The Chinese mantid, Tenodera aridifolia sinensis Sauss., an in- 
troduced species, occurs in the Eastern States west to Ohio and 
south to South Carolina. The adults are elongate, robust, and 
about 100 mm. long (fig. 10). Females are green or greenish- 
yellow; males are the same color or wholly brown, or brown with 
margins of the forewings green. The narrow-winged mantid, 7. 
angustipennis Sauss., also an introduced species, is similar to but 
more slender and smaller than the Chinese mantid. It is widely 
distributed in the Eastern States. 
Two other eastern species are the European mantid, Mantis ve- 
ligiosa L., an introduced species (medium sized and greenish- 
yellow) and Litaneutria minor (Scudder). The latter is about 25 
mm. long, and occurs on the Great Plains (316). 
FAMILY PHASMATIDAE 
WALKINGSTICKS 
Eastern species of walkingsticks are long, slender, and subcyl- 
indrical insects. The head is free and nearly horizontal; the an- 
tennae are long, and the eyes small; the abdomen is elongate; the 
legs very long and slender; and the wings are rudimentary, except 
for one species found in Florida. Walkingsticks are slow-moving 
insects, and all are plant feeders. The eggs are hard-shelled and 
are often dropped promiscuously to the ground. 
The walkingstick, Diapheromera femorata (Say), the only 
species of economic importance, occurs in southern Canada and 
throughout most of eastern United States west to the Great 
Plains and Texas. Its preferred hosts appear to be black oak, 
basswood, elm, black locust, and wild cherry, but it also feeds on 
white oak, aspen, paper birch, ash, dogwood, and hickory. 
Adults are 62 to 87 mm. long and, while motionless, closely re- 
semble the twigs of their hosts (fig. 11). The body color is vari- 
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