REAR HORSE. Mantida. True orthopter ous insects which have their legs peculiarly adapted for walking, and known under various expressive names, as Rear-horse, Camel-crickets, or Praying mantids; all, as well as the specters or walking-sticks, are beneficial to agriculture, since they destroy all such insects as they can catch and overcome. They are all insects belonging to the South rather than the North, being seldom found much above the latitude of St. Louis. Mantis Carolina is cornmon in Southern Illinois and South. They are of a greenish or grayish brown color, their heads horizontal, their eyes large and globular, antennge thread-like, and the body long, linear, and oval, with the abdomen much wider than the thorax or front part of the body, and of a depressed form. The upper wings of the male are long, and have numerous veins. The under wings are thin and net-veined with long parallel veins. The wing-covers of the females are considerably shover than those of the male, and do not reach the end of the abdomen. When disturbed, this singular insect elevates or rears the fore part of its body almost perpendicularly, fixes its large staring eyes full upon the disturber, 8,nd turns its head sideways in a peculiarly human, yet ludicrous manner, so a,s to follow every movement of its tormentor with at least one eye. If a small object, such as a blade of grass, be then presented, it will either strike out vigorously with its saber-like fore feet, or else retreat to what it considers a safe distance. These insects are especially remark able in the formation of their fore feet, which are much longer than the others, and are formed particularly for catching and holding their prey, which consists of other insects. The thighs are robust, and armed with a double row of spines, the shanks are short, spiny, and curved so as to fit into the under side of the thighs, when closed, like a clasp-knife. When in pursuit of its prey the insect moves almost imperceptibly along, and steals toward its victim like a cat approaching a mouse, and, when sufficiently near, the fore leg is extended at its full length, the insect immedi ately caught and impaled by the spines between the thigh and shank, carried to the rnouth, and deliberately eaten piecemeal while yet alive and struggling to escape. If gently treated and daily accustomed to the sight of its feeder, this insect may readily be tamed so as to take flies from the hand, and from the oddity of its actions and apparent intelligence makes a most interesting pet. The eggs are clustered together in an irregular brownish mass or case, about an inch long, and fastened to the branches or trunks of trees, on palings, or walls, and even on the under side of window-sills, in Washington, where the insects are very common. Wherever such cases
are found, they should be protected and not destroyed, as is generally the case, (being mis taken for the eggs of leaf-destroying caterpillars), as the insects produced from them do no injury whatsoever to vegetation, but, on the contrary, are very beneficial as destroying injurious insects, from their earliest infancy, as when young they feed upon plant-lice and other min ute insects. These young rear-horses are so carnivorous that almost as soon as they are hatched and their skins a little hardened by exposure to the atmosphere they will devour their younger and softer-bodied brethren, and we have seen frequently a young mantis of a day old mercilessly devour the young of its own kind when just emerged from the egg-case. When older, these insects dispersp and feed at first on very small insects, such as plant-lice and simi lar small game, until they acquire size and strength sufficient to master small caterpillars and flies. When fully grown, the females, being rnuch larger, stronger, and more rapa cious than their mates, the males, will fre quently sieze and kill them, and afterward make a good meal from their quivering bodies. Allied to these are the specter or walking-stick insects, Phasnlicke. These insects in this country da very little, if any, injury, to the farmers, as they generally live on the shoots and foliage of wild shrubs or trees in the woods. The most common species is the common walking-stick insect, (DiapIteronzera pnwrata), so natned from the close resemblance the insect bears to a dead twig or stick. The egg-sac is said to be flattened, elliptic, with a lid in front, which can be pushed open by the imago when about to hatch. These eggs are deposited in autumn. The young insects resemble the old ones in form and habits, differing only in size. The species never acquire wings, and merely crawl from limb to limb; they are of very sluggish habits, and the males are considerably smaller than the females. When stretched out motionless on a twig, with fore feet and antennw extended, they can scarcely be distinguished from the twigs themselves, and_ city visitors, who see them for the tirst time, can scarcely be persuaded that they are not real twigs, gifted in some mysterious ma ner with life and motion. These insects are said to be able to reproduce some of their limbs when, accidentally broken off. They feed upon the buds, shoots, and foliage of various trees and shrubs, but are not sufficiently numerous to cause much injury.