. Cassell's natural history. Animals; Animal behavior. TEE 129 sometimes it is enlarged at the sides. There are eight or nine dorsal segments in the males and one less in the females ; the extremity of the abdomen in l>oth sexes is furnisheil with a pair of jointed cerci. The si>ecies of this family, which are generally of considerable size, those of an inch long beino- comparatively small, are almost entirely inhabitants of the warmer regions of the world, only a few being found in Southern Europe, and these also occur in Africa. The three most abundant European forms, met wit
. Cassell's natural history. Animals; Animal behavior. TEE 129 sometimes it is enlarged at the sides. There are eight or nine dorsal segments in the males and one less in the females ; the extremity of the abdomen in l>oth sexes is furnisheil with a pair of jointed cerci. The si>ecies of this family, which are generally of considerable size, those of an inch long beino- comparatively small, are almost entirely inhabitants of the warmer regions of the world, only a few being found in Southern Europe, and these also occur in Africa. The three most abundant European forms, met with not uncommonly in the south of France, are PAtPERATA svith toothed antennse, which measures from two to two and a half inches in length; Mantis religiosa, a species of equal size with simple antenna?; and a smaller species allied to the latter {Mantis oratorio). These insects are remarkable enough by their form, but many exotic species are much more curious. A very considerable number have some parts, especially the femora, dilated into leaf-like pieces, often of singular form; in others the prothorax is widened into a broad leaf-like plate, or some portion of the abdomen has its margins dilated in the same fashion. The colours displayed by many species when alive are exceedingly beautiful, especially the very delicate gi-ass-gi-een which is the genei-al colour of a great number. The hinder wings are often very brilliantly coloured, sometimes showing eye-like spots of large size. In certain desert .species, such as those forming the genus Eremophila. the colours are, on the contrary, exceedingly sober. These last insects reside in the most barraa. Please note that these images are extracted from scanned page images that may have been digitally enhanced for readability - coloration and appearance of these illustrations may not perfectly resemble the original Duncan, P. Martin (Peter Martin), 1821-1891; Metcalf Collection (North Carolina State Univers
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1890, booksubjecta, booksubjectanimals
