Half the larvae will issue by the right-hand passage, half by that on the left hand.

This process is repeated for each layer, from end to end of the nest.
Let us sum up those structural details, which are not easily grasped unless one has the nest before one.

Lying along the axis of the nest, and in shape like a date-stone, is the mass of eggs, grouped in layers.
A protective rind, a kind of solidified foam, envelops this core, except at the top, along the central line, where the porous rind is replaced by thin overlapping leaves.

The free edges of these leaves form the exterior of the zone of issue; they overlap one another, forming two series of scales, leaving two exits, in the shape of narrow crevices, for each layer of eggs.
[Illustration: 1.

NEST OF THE PRAYING MANTIS.
2.