Page:Insects - Their Ways and Means of Living.djvu/105

 GRASSHOPPER'S COUSINS

them to take the form of leaves. One famous species that lives in the East Indies looks so much like two leaves stuck together that it is truly marvelous that an insect could be

so fashioned (Fig. 45). The whole body is fiat, and about three inches long, the bases of the legs are broad and irregu- larly notched, the abdomen is spread out almost as thin as a real leaf, and the leafiike wings are held close above it. Finally, the color, which is leaf-green or brown, gives the last touch necessary for complete dissim- ulation.

TIqE Mar'rltS I t is often observed that genius may be perverted, or put to evil purposes. Here is a family of insects, the Man- tidae, related to the grass- hoppers, katydids, and crick-

Fro. 45. A tropical leaf insect, Pulchriph.vllium pulchrfoliurn, a mernber of the walking-stick farn- ily. (Length 3 inches)

ets, the members of which are clever enough, but are deceitful and malicious. The praying mantis, Stagmomantis carolina (Fig. 46), though he may go by the aliases of "rear-horse" and "soothsayer," gets his more common name from the prayerful attitude he commonly assumes when at rest. The long, necklike prothorax, supporting the small head, is elevated and the front legs are meekly folded. But if you examine closely one of these folded legs, you will see that the second and third parts are armed with suspicious- looking spikes, which are concealed when the two parts are closed upon each other. In truth, the mantis is an arch hypocrite, and his devotional attitude and meek looks betoken no humility of spirit. The spiny arms,

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