. The bee-keepers' guide; or, Manual of the apiary. Bees. 328 Emmies of Bees—Praying Mantis. enemy of the bees. The male has wings and no sting. The female has no wings, but is possessed of a powerful sting. She is an inch (25 m, m) long, very hairy, and black, except the top of her head and thorax, and a broad basal band and the tip of the* upper part of her abdomen, which are bright red. A central band of black divides the red spaces of the abdomen. The entire under part of the body and all the members are black. So hard and dense is the chitinous crust of these insects, that they enter the
. The bee-keepers' guide; or, Manual of the apiary. Bees. 328 Emmies of Bees—Praying Mantis. enemy of the bees. The male has wings and no sting. The female has no wings, but is possessed of a powerful sting. She is an inch (25 m, m) long, very hairy, and black, except the top of her head and thorax, and a broad basal band and the tip of the* upper part of her abdomen, which are bright red. A central band of black divides the red spaces of the abdomen. The entire under part of the body and all the members are black. So hard and dense is the chitinous crust of these insects, that they enter the hives fearlessly, and unmindful of stings deliberately kill the bees and feed on the young. The males are said to sting. This is certainly a mistake. The sting is a modified ovipositor—an organ not possessed by males. These insects belong to the family Mutillidse, so called because the females are wingless. They are closely allied in structure to the ants, which they much resemble. THE PRAYING MANTIS. This strange insect I have received from Indiana and other Southern and Western States. Its scientific name is Mantis Carolina, Linn. It is very predacious, and the female has been known to eat up her mate immediately after the sexual act. No wonder that they make our friends of the hive con- tribute to their support. This insect (Fig 190) is a sort of Fig. non-descript. In the South it is known as Devil's Race-Horse. It is a corpulent '' walking-stick" with wings. In fact it is closely related to our own ' 'walking-sticks" of the North. Its anterior legs are very curious. As it rests upon them, it ap- pears as if in the attitude of devotion, hence the name Pray- ing Mantis. It might well be preying mantis. These pecu-. 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 Cook, Albert John, 1842-
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Keywords: ., bo, bookcentury1800, bookdecade1880, booksubjectbees, bookyear1883
