MANTIS RELIGIOSA. 
233 
MANTIS RELIGIOSA. 
Plate VIII. 
Linn. Roesel's Ins. ii. Gryll. PI. 1. fig. 1. 2 — M. Oratoria, 
Linn Roesel's Ins. ii. Gryll. PI. 2. fig. 5, and Vol. iv. 
PI. 12. — M. Oratoria, Fair . — Lichtenstein Linn. Trans. 
vi. p. 28. 
This well-known species is about two inches in 
length, of a light green colour, inclining to brown in 
some places, and occasionally almost entirely of the 
latter hue ; thorax elongate, particularly in the female, 
and smooth on the surface ; tegmina as long as the 
abdomen, green and unspotted, each of them with a 
strong longitudinal nervure, at some distance from 
the anterior border ; under wings of an elongate tri- 
angular shape, green anteriorly and of a firmer texture 
than behind, where the colour is pale white ; the ab- 
domen and legs are also green ; the anal spines, as 
well as those on the anterior legs, deep chestnut. On 
the inner side of the coxce of the fore-legs, there is 
a yellow spot bordered with black — a peculiarity 
which, according to Latreille, serves to distinguish 
this species from one nearly allied, which is a native 
of the Cape of Good Hope. 
This species appears to be general throughout the 
Mediterranean region, and in many places it occurs 
in great profusion. It is the M. prie-dieu of the 
southern provinces of France and Italy. If the 
synonyms of authors were to be admitted as accurate, 
it should likewise be regarded as extensively distri- 
buted over foreign lands, but in many instances they 
