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A genus of locusts remarkable for their form. They are widely distributed in the United States and Eurasia. These insects include several species, most of which are noted for the large spinous forelegs, which appear as if folded for prayer when waiting for the insect prey.

Mantis

A genus of locusts remarkable for their form. They are widely distributed in the United States and Eurasia.…

"The Mantis is one of the most voracious of its class, and only assumes this solemn and devout appearance for the beguilement of its unsuspecting victims; it is also exceedingly quarrelsome.: — Goodrich, 1859

Praying Mantis

"The Mantis is one of the most voracious of its class, and only assumes this solemn and devout appearance…

"Probably no other insect has been the subject of so many and widespread legends and superstitions as the common "praying mantis," Mantis religiosa. The ancient Greeks endowed it with supernatural powers; the Turks and Arabs hold that it prays constantly with its face turned towards the mecca; the Provencals call it Prega-Diou; and numerous more or less similar names —preacher, saint, nun, medicant, soothsayer, etc., widely diffused throughout southern Europe. Children ask it to show them the way, and Mouffet assures us that it rarely or never deceives them; and it is even recorded that one specimen, which aligted on the hand of St. Francis Xavier, and which he commanded to sing the praise of God, loudly intoned a very beautiful canticle." —The Encyclopedia Britannica, 1903

Praying Mantis

"Probably no other insect has been the subject of so many and widespread legends and superstitions as…

"The common species of Squilla is <em>squilla mantis</u>, so called for its supposed resemblance to the insect mantis."&mdash;Finley, 1917

Squilla

"The common species of Squilla is squilla mantis, so called for its supposed resemblance to the…