into a pointed hook, black at the tip and a fiery red at the
base. The antennae are very short, inserted close to the root of the
mandibles. I count three joints: the first thick and globular, the
other two cylindrical, the second of these cut short abruptly. There
are twelve segments, apart from the head, divided by fairly definite
grooves. The first thoracic segment is a little longer than the rest,
with the dorsal plate very slightly tinged with russet, as is the top
of the head. Beginning with the tenth segment, the body tapers a
little. A slight scalloped rim divides the dorsal from the ventral
surface.

The legs are short, white and transparent and end in a feeble claw. A
pair of stigmata on the mesothorax, near the line of junction with the
prothorax; a stigma on either side of the first eight abdominal
segments; in all nine pairs of stigmata, distributed like those of the
pseudochrysalis. These stigmata are small, tinged with red and rather
difficult to distinguish. Varying in size, like the pseudochrysalid
which seems to come from it, this larva averages nearly half an inch
in length and an eighth of an inch in width.

The six little legs, feeble though they be, perform services which one
would not at first suspect. They embrace the Mantis that is being
devoured and hold her under the mandibles, while the grub, lying on
its side, takes its meal at its ease. They also serve for locomotion.
On a firm surface, such as the wooden top of my table, the larva can
move about quite well; it toddles along, dragging its belly, with its
body straight from end to end. On fine, loose sand, change of position
becomes difficult. The grub now bends itself into a bow; it wriggles
upon its back, upon its side; it crawls a little way; it digs and
heaves with its mandibles. But let a less crumbling support come to
its assistance; and pilgrimages of some length are not beyond its
powers.

I reared my guests in a box divided into compartments by means of
paper partitions. Each space, representing about the capacity of a
Tachytes-cell, received its layer of sand, its pile of Mantes and its
larva. And more than one disturbance arose in this refectory, where I
had reckoned upon keeping the banqueters isolated one from the other,
each at its special table. This larva, which had finished its ration
the day before, was discovered next day in another chamber, where it
was sharing its neighbour's repast. It had therefore climbed the
part