The ordinary Mantides, or Praying Insects, as they are sometimes called, from their apparently devotional attitudes, resemble the species just described in their general structure, but are seldom furnished with so long a neck and so leaf-like a body. They carry the head erect, and the long fore-feet, which shut together like a clasp-knife, are used in catching their prey; it is while thus engaged that their postures have been considered to resemble an attitude of devotion.
