CHAPTER VI.
THE MANTIS .-- COURTSHIP The little we have seen of the customs of the Mantis does not square very well with the popular name for the insect.

From the term _Prego-Dieu_ we should expect a peaceful placid creature, devoutly self-absorbed; and we find a cannibal, a ferocious spectre, biting open the heads of its captives after demoralising them with terror.

But we have yet to learn the worst.

The customs of the Mantis in connection with its own kin are more atrocious even than those of the spiders, who bear an ill repute in this respect.
To reduce the number of cages on my big laboratory table, to give myself a little more room, while still maintaining a respectable menagerie, I installed several females under one cover.

There was sufficient space in the common lodging and room for the captives to move about, though for that matter they are not fond of movement, being heavy in the abdomen.
Crouching motionless against the wire work of the cover, they will digest their food or await a passing victim.