During these engagements the wings are generally
expanded, and when the battle is over, the conqueror devours his
vanquished foe.
Among the Chinese, this quarrelsome disposition in the Mantis, is
converted to an entertainment, resembling that of fighting-cocks and
quails: and it is to this insect that we suppose the following passage
in Mr. Barrow's _Account of China_, alludes:--"They have even extended
their inquiries after fighting animals into the insect tribes, and have
discovered a species of locusts that will attack each other with such
ferocity, as seldom to quit their hold without bringing away at the same
time a limb of their antagonist. These little creatures are fed and kept
apart in bamboo cages; and the custom of making them devour each other
is so common, that during the summer months, scarcely a boy is to be
seen without his cage of locusts."[3]
[3] Travels in China.
The country people in many parts of the continent, look upon the
religious Mantis as a divine insect, and would not on any account injure
it.
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