The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1905-10-25
FLOWERS or PREY.
nrDocts Of the Form and Color Of Orchids
S4ncA Their Prey Think Plsnts.

aecA Their Prey Think Plants. q
sy5abfy IN some respects the most
yurprising result of late chronological
exploration is the discovery Of SEM
blances of orchidaceous flowers en-.
dowed with animal life and toracious
carniverous appetites, thkt seize and
incontinently deyour insect vegetar-
ians which, allured by their form. and
color, incautiously alight upon them.
These flower insects belong to the
curious family Montidae, of which we
have well-known member In our
Southern States, Phasmomantis caro-
lima. commonly called praying man
tis." though If the first part of the
name was spelled with an sc" instead
Of an "a," it would be far more appro-
pirate, since no known insect is more
bloodthirsty and destructive of smaller
and weaker individuals belonging to its
class. Its form is characteristic Of its
predatory habits. The mantis is really
q four-legged insect, for the four limbs
are so modified that they cannot under
any circumstances be used in walking
and are no more properly termed legs
than would be the arms Of men or
the wings of birds. They are in fact,
the natural weapons of the insect and
are used for nothing else than fighting
and for capturing prey. 3,
an insect discoYered by Wood Mason
masquerades sometimes as pink and
ut others as white orchid. The whole
aower insect is either conspicuously
white or Of a resplendent pink color,
and both in color and form perfectly
initiates a flower. The. lower OF APP
parentIy anterior petal Of an orchida;
ceous blossom, the ilabellum, often of
very curious shape is represented
by the abdomen of the insect, while
the parts which might be taken re-
garding it as an insect, FOR Its wings,
are actually the femurs OF the two
pairs of posterior limbs, $50 greatly ex.
banded, fattened and shaped in such
manner as to represent the remaining
petals of the flower. AS the mantis
( rests, head downwardrsamid the stems
and leaves Of a plant, the forelegs
drawn in so. that they cannot be seen,
the thighs Of the two hind legs radiat.
Ing out on. each side, and the thorax
and thesabdomen raised at right angles
to each other, the insect might easily at
first sight deceive more discriminating
entomoIogists than the honey-seekers
that settle upon it.
! An allied species. exactly resembling
pink orchid, is mentioned by DR.
Wallace, on. the authority Of Sir
Charles Dixie, as inhabiting Java. Its
speciality is alluring and capturing but
terfies. The expected guest having
arrived, the seeming feast spread out
for his delectation arises and devoura
! him. =, .s&S.;,s25s :. j, (, IL, yf s. ~
Professor 81, Kurz, while at Pegu. In
lower Burmah. saw what he supposed
to be an orchid Of species unfamiliar
to him, but upon examination found
It to be mantis Of the genus Gongy
lus. As Is common with the habit OF
Its kind when alighting upon a plant
It hung head downward, exposing the
under surface to view, sometimes mo
tionless, and sometimes swaying gently
like a flower touched by gentle zephyrs
A. bright violet-blue dilation of thu
thorax, in front of which its foreiegS
bandad violet and black, extended like
petals, simulated the cOrolla OF Q
papilionaceous flower so perfectly as tt
deceive the eyes of a practiced bot
hnist. ~ &ri ,'5
A whole tribe Of spiders, members Of
the Thomisdae family, living in flower
cups. assume the colors.and marhngs
Of the flowers in which they lie In Wai1
for victims. rs ~ ~ ~ :.
Brazilian BIRDS flycatchers, display
brilliantly eolored crest easily mis-
taken for a flower cup. Insects at
! tracted by what appears to be a fresh
! " opened blossom; furnish the birds
with food. An Asiatic lizard Is en-
tireiy covered Like the surface OF the
desert plain where it lives, except thai
at each angle of the mouth blooms
brilliant red folding of the flesh exact
ly resembling little flower that gTows
In the sand. Insects lured by the seem
Ing flower are incontinently disillu
stoned when they settle upon it.-Sr'
entifc american. -