formed by a caprice of Nature, and appears to be 
incommoded by the ftrange and uncouth difpropor- 
tion of its limbs, and the aukwardnefs of its form. 
All thefe feeming incongruities, however, are in re¬ 
ality calculated for the natural habits and modes of 
life to which the animal is deftined; and, inftead of 
proving a difadvantage to it, are, on the contrary, 
the powerful means of its fupport. Like the reft of 
its congeners, it is of a predacious nature; and the 
great length of its fore-legs enables it readily to 
feize and manage the fmaller^infefts on which it 
feeds; while its color and the leaf-like appearance of 
its wings, with the extreme gracility of its thorax 
and legs, make it lefs eafily diftinguifhed amongft 
the vegetables on which it refides, and thus give it 
the advantage of obtaining its prey the more readily. 
The antenna, which in moft fpecimens are fimple 
and filiform, are in others elegantly pedlinated; 
wLether this be really a fpecific difference, or merely 
a fexual one, it is not eafy to determine. It is alfo 
to be obferved, that in the figures of Seba, this 
fpecies, as well as the Mantis ftrumaria, is fome- 
times reprefented with pectinated antennas. Tho’ the 
Mantis gongylodes is generally of the color repre¬ 
fented in the plate, yet when living it is probably 
of a much greener caft: it is a native of many parts 
of Alia and Africa. 
