Note 1 — Chapter VI · THE MANTIS: HER HUNTING

These tit-bits are intended to show me to what lengths the Mantis’ strength and daring can go. They include the big Grey Locust (Pachytylus cinerescens, Fab.), who is larger than the insect that will consume him; the White-faced Decticus, armed with a vigorous pair of mandibles whereof our fingers would do well to fight shy; the quaint Tryxalis, who wears a pyramid-shaped mitre on her head; the Vine Ephippiger,1 who clashes cymbals and sports a sword at the bottom of her pot-belly. To this assortment of game that is not any too easy to tackle, let us add two monsters, two of the largest Spiders of the district: the Silky Epeira, whose flat, festooned abdomen is the size of a franc piece; and the Cross Spider, or Diadem Epeira,2 who is hideously hairy and obese.