Yet how easily the work is performed! Clinging to the wire gauze, forming, so to speak, the axis of her nest, the Mantis barely moves.

She bestows not a glance on the marvel which is growing behind her; her limbs are used only for support; they take no part in the building of the nest.

The nest is built, if we may say so, automatically.

It is not the result of industry and the cunning of instinct; it is a purely mechanical task, which is conditioned by the implements, by the organisation of the insect.

The nest, complex though it is in structure, results solely from the functioning of the organs, as in our human industries a host of objects are mechanically fashioned whose perfection puts the dexterity of the fingers to shame.
From another point of view the nest of the Mantis is even more remarkable.