148 HEMIPTERA. 
that it pointed out the road to travellers, 
particularly to children, who had lost 
their way. 
Lucy. Is the larva as curious as the 
perfect insect ? 
Mother. It resembles the fly very 
much J except that it has no wings ; which, 
during the pupa state, come to perfec- 
tion, ready to unfold at its last change. 
Lucy. Like the grasshoppers and 
crickets, I suppose ? 
Mother. Just so ; the larva, the pupa, 
and the imago, or perfect fly, have so 
close a resemblance to each other, that an 
inattentive observer would scarcely per- 
ceive a difference. 
This species of mantis piles up its little 
oblong eggs in regular rows, and roofs 
them with a substance like thin parch- 
ment, to protect them from the weather. 
Its colour is green when young, but it 
gradually changes to a brown. 
There is another species, whose eggs 
are green, and about the size of coriander 
bced ; they are deposited in a nest, which 
