68 
ORTHOPTERA. 
ly secured to the plant. The eggs are in regular rows inside the egg case 
and the whole mass will last through the winter on the plant. 
The young mantids emerge from the egg almost simultaneously and are 
small active insects often dark coloured and with a general resemblance 
to an ant (fig. 13). Shelford records the mimicry of the nymph of 
Hymenopus bicornus for the nymph of a Keduviid bug, Eulyes amoena 
(Proc. Zool. Soc. London, 1902, p. 230). They are active and lead an 
active life until they are full grown. In general their habits are not 
those of the parents, the young seeking small insects on plants or on the 
soil, and only adopting the peculiar habits of their parents as they pro¬ 
gress towards maturity. The form and attitude of the young is fre¬ 
quently very striking, though different to that of the adult, and there is 
a large field for investigation into the habits and resemblances of these 
nymphs. All are predaceous at all times of their life ; the food of the 
full grown insect is large living insects, which are caught when they come 
within reach of the waiting mantis. None are vegetarian, none are 
injurious, but the group comes into the class we may denominate as 
4 ‘General Predators, 5 ’ feeding on such insects as come to them and not being 
specially adapted to special insects. The length of the life history is not 
known. Hibernation appears to take place chiefly in the egg stage ; 
eggmasses are laid in early November in the plains, and hatch in early 
March. This is not the only time that eggs are laid, as they may be 
found during the rains. Wood-Mason found eggs laid by Mantis sp. 
to hatch in 18 days (July 17th to August 4th), while those of Schizocephala 
bicornis took 30 days (July 17th to August 16th). Nymphs and adults 
of bark-infesting species have been found in winter under the bark of 
trees, and this appears to be the normal hibernation of such as can find 
shelter. Throughout the remaining months these insects are active and 
there appear to be no special periods when they breed or multiply 
extensively. They are distributed throughout India, more abundantly 
in the jungle but still commonly in the cultivated plains. They are 
essentially tropical insects, and are rare or non-existent in temperate 
climates. The eggmasses are the habitat of parasitic Chalcidce , the 
females of which have long ovipositors with which they pierce the 
eggmass and reach the eggs within. Apparently a large proportion 
of the eggmasses are parasitised. Other enemies are not known. 
