There are many insects, birds and beasts that preserve their
being by simulating what they are not, that they may remain
undistinguishable and escape the pitfalls that may lie in wait
for them; also to catch the unobservant and destroy them. Among
these are the “specter insect,” the “walking-stick insect,”
and the “praying insect” (_Mantis religiosa_), which is
so constructed, with its fore-legs stiff and thrust into the
air to resemble a withered twig, that it may escape foes from
this very resemblance, also that it may catch any unwary insect
that ventures near for its own subsistence, thus simulating an
attitude of patient endurance quite like those scavengers of
the human race--pious beggars who simulate faith and patient
endurance, but are really burglars and robbers. The sphinx
caterpillar also simulates what it is not, and escapes its
enemies by putting on a false appearance, and also attracts its
food in a like manner.--Mrs. M. J. GORTON, _Popular
Science News_.
(2950)
=Sin, Bondage to=--See BONDAGE TO SIN.