.304 
MAN 
The S'nfefts of this genus poffefs a form the tnoft roman¬ 
tic and extraordinary that is perhaps prefented by any ani¬ 
mated being; and fo powerfully have their lingular atti¬ 
tudes operated on the minds of the credulous and ignorant, 
that fuperftition has inverted them with certain powers 
that are altogether unexemplified by any part of the hif- 
tory of animated nature. By the fingular manner in which 
the foothfayer ftretches out its fore-legs, it has acquired 
the reputation of a diviner, who could unfold all the fe- 
crets in the bofom of futurity ; and becaufe the infefl often 
fits upon its four hind legs, having the two fore ones railed 
up and folded together, the believing multitude have fup- 
pofed it to be then holding intercourfe with the Supreme 
Power, in the fexercife of devotion; - a circumftance from 
which it has obtained from the peafantsof Languedoc the 
name of Preqadiou, or the God-prayer. It is in that pro¬ 
vince, where thefe animals abound, that the country peo¬ 
ple have alfo afcribed to the foothfayer another very com¬ 
mendable quality ; that of obligingly (flowing the way to 
Itrangers; this it is fuppofed to do, by that peculiar habit 
which it has of ftretching its fore-legs fometimes to the 
right, and fometimes to its left, fide. Thefe fuperftitions 
of the vulgar have been as favourable to the fecurity of 
thefe animals as they are difgraceful to human reafon ; for 
they have procured them a charafter almoft facred ; and 
the injuring them is reckoned a crime of no fmall enormity. 
There are 66 fpecies. 
1. Mantis filiformis. The body, as its name imports, 
is filiform, apterous, and brown; the legs are longer than 
the body, unarmed'} antennae black. Inhabits South 
America. 
2. Mantis ferula : body filiform, apterous, and green; 
legs longer than the body ; hind-thighs fpinous at the tip. 
The antennae are of a moderate fize; green tipt with 
brown; body fmooth glabrqus, without wing-cafes; thighs 
angular ; the four hind ones fpinous. Inhabits Guada- 
loupe. 
3. Mantis calamus: body filiform, apterous, greenifh; 
thighs ftriate ; antennae yellowifh ; head fmooth yellowifh ; 
body cylindrical; legs yellowifh. Inhabits Santa Cruz 
in America. 
4. Mantis raffia: body filiform, apterous, green; thighs 
toothed; the legs are fhort and brown, the thighs are tooth¬ 
ed beneath. It is found in many parts of Italy. 
5. Mantis angulata: apterous; head and thorax fpinous; 
wing-cafes rounded, very fhort j thighs angular beneath. 
This is denominated by Drury, Mantis gigas, and is an 
inhabitant ofGuadaloupe. Thebodyisofachefnut brown ; 
the head has twofpinesand numerous raifed dots; thorax 
with two (harp fpines on the anterior lobe, and numerous 
raifed dots, the fides ferrate; wing-cafes fhort, rounded, 
reticulate; thighs very angular, the four hind ones fpinous 
beneath. 
6. Mantis gigas, the giant-foothfayer, or great walking- 
flick : thorax roundifh, rough; wing-cafes very fhort; 
legs fpinous. This and a few more of the Mantes have 
been feparated by fome writers into a diftin61 genus, 
Phafma; they differ in having all the legs equally formed 
for walking, or without the falciform joint which diftin- 
guifhes the fore-legs in moll of the genus Mantis. The 
antennae are fetaceous, and the head large and broad ; to 
thefe characters may be added the fhortnefs of the upper 
wings, or hemelytra, which fcarcely cover more than about 
a third part of the body, while the lower wings are often 
very large and long. In their mode of life thefe fpecies 
differ from the Mantes ; feeding entirely on vegetable food. 
We have thought it belt, however, not to vary from the 
Linnsean claffification. 
The giant foothfayer meafures fix or eight inches in 
length, and is of a very lengthened fliape both in the thorax 
and abdomen, which are of a lubcylindric form, the tho¬ 
rax being lengthened on the edges and upper furface by 
numerous fmall fpines or tubercles. The upper wings are 
fmall, green, and veined like the leaves of a plant, while 
the lower are very ample, reaching half the length of the 
T I S. 
body or farther, of a very pale tranfparent brown, ele¬ 
gantly varied and teflelated by darker fpots and patches.; 
the legs are of moderate length, with the joints roughened 
by fpines. The larva and pupa of this fpecies bear a more 
fingular appearance than even the complete infect, greatly 
refembling, on a general view, a piece of dry flick with 
feveral fmall broken twigs adhering to it; for this reafon 
it has been generally known in collections by-the name of 
the walking-flick, and underthis title is figured in Edwards!s 
Gleanings of Natural Hiftory, and many other publications. 
It is however probable, that, though of a pale brown in 
its dry (late, it is in reality green when living; the natural 
colour fading after death, as in many others of this tribe. 
It is a native of the ifland of Amboyna. It may be added, 
that this infect either runs into feveral varieties at to iize 
and fome other particulars, or that there exirts in reality 
many diltinct fpecies, which have been confounded under 
one common name ; for Mr. Donovan, in his Epitome of 
the InfeCls of China, mentions a fpecimen nearly thirteen 
inches in length. In the Leverian Muieum there was a 
very capital fpecimen, which has been figured in the Na- 
turalift’s Mifcellany. The one delineated on the annexed 
Plate, at fig. 2. is from Edwards. 
7. Mantis dilatatum, the broad-foothfayer. This feems 
to have been firft defcribed in the fourth volume of the 
Tranfaftions of the Linnsean Society, by Mr. John Parkin- 
fon. It was preferved in the Leverian Mufeum. The ac¬ 
count given in the Linn. Tranf. runs as follows: “This 
fingular animal, which appears to be a fpecies hitherto 
undefcribed, is fuppofed to be a native of Alia, and be¬ 
longs to that tribe of infefts which Stoll has called Phafma, 
or SpeCtres, and which conftitute a diftinCt genus from that 
of Mantis. The prefent fpecies meafures fix inches and 
a quarter from the upper part or top of the head to the ex¬ 
tremity of the abdomen. The whole animal is of a flat¬ 
tened form, more efpecially on the abdomen, which mea¬ 
fures about an inch and a half acrofs in its broadeft part; 
the thorax is of an obtufely rhomboidal form, the fides 
Hoping each way from the flattifh upper part. The whole 
thorax is not only edged with fpines, but has alfo feve¬ 
ral very (harp ones diftantly fcattered over its furface. 
The head rifes up backwards into an obtufely-conic fliape, 
and has feveral very ftrong and large fpines or procefles. 
The abdomen is edged, almolt throughout its whole length, 
with a continued leries of fmall fpines, to the number of 
five on the fide of each individual feginent; the extreme 
fegments are without fpines. The thighs or firft joints of 
the lower pair of legs are in this infedt remarkably ftrong, 
of a fomewhat triangular fhape, and befet with fome ftrong 
fpines; but the tibiae or fecond joints are armed with far 
larger and ftronger ones. The upper and middle pair of 
legs are of a nearly fimilar ftruCture in proportion, but 
much lefs (trongly fpined. The colour of all the legs is 
green, tinged with brown; the fpines blackifh. The ge¬ 
neral colour of the thorax, abdomen, and head, is now 
brown, but might probably have been green in the living 
animal. The wings are fcarcely larger than the elytra, or 
wing-fheaths, and feem originally to have been reddifh, a 
tinge of that colour ftill pervading fome parts of the wings; 
the tips are green ; thefe wings are very ftrongly veined 
with brown fibres; the wing-cafes are of a ftrong opake 
green, and were doubtlefs more vivid in the living infeCt; 
they have a great refemblance to a pair of leaves. The 
mouth has four palpi, which are rather long, and under 
the mouth are fituated two leaf-fhaped organs, perhaps be¬ 
longing to the aftion of that part. The antennx are want¬ 
ing, the firft joints alone remaining.. The abdomen is 
terminated by a kind of boat-fhaped organ, the keel of 
which poffefles a confiderable fpace beneath the abdomen, 
fo that fewer fegments appear on that part than above. 
The concavity of this organ is covered by a terminal fcale 
and bifid procefs, conftituting the tip of the abdomen on 
the upper part. On raifing this valve, an ovum, nearly of 
the fize of a pea, but of a more lengthened form, was dif. 
covered lying in the cavity beneath 3 and, on Infpedting 
farther 
