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1. THE PRAYING MANTIS.
The Mantis is a species of cricket, and belongs to the Hemiptetera, or
second order of insects. Blumenbach[1] enumerates four varieties:--1.
the Gigantic, from Amboyna, a span long, yet scarce as thick as a
goose-quill, and eaten by the Indians. 2. Gonglyodes, from Guinea. 3.
the Religious Mantis, or Praying Cricket. 4. Another at the Cape, and
considered sacred by the Hottentots. The cut represents the third of
these varieties.
[1] Manual, translated by Gore.
It mostly goes on four legs, holding up two shorter ones. The hind legs
are very long; the middle ones shorter. It is sometimes called the
_Dried and Walking Leaf_, from the resemblance of its wing covering, in
form and colour to a dry willow leaf; it is found in China and South
America, and in the latter country many of the Indians believe that
Mantes grow on trees like leaves, and that having arrived at maturity,
they loosen themselves, and crawl or fly away.
Mr. T. Carpenter[2] has recently dissected the head of this species, in
which he found large and sharp cutting teeth; also strong grinding ones,
similar to those in the heads of locusts: the balls at the ends fit into
sockets in the jaw.
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