Le Diablotin, Empuse commune Empusa pennata.
( see also article on the Praying Mantis -Volume I and French News of November 2001)
This is an astonishing insect common enough in South West France. It looks like a little devil, and so it gets its name. At over 6 cms in length it is not small. This photo is of the larval form. One can hardly imagine a creature more bizarre in shape. The two antennae look like horns on each side of a large conical projection on top of the head. In the male the antennae are split and shaped like combs. Possibly, as in similar cases in moths, such antennae can pick up the scent of females from a long way off. The large eyes can no doubt see quite well in dim light. The animal commonly stands with four front legs raised in order to pounce on any wandering small fly that comes within reach. The two hind legs then support it as though it is standing on stilts. The large abdomen is ornamented on the underside with knobs, and to add to the alien appearance this abdomen is curved upwards. The adult looks much less dramatic. The long wings that it then possesses cover the knobbly abdomen.
The insect is a species of praying mantis. Its life cycle is similar to the other mantids but there are differences. In all the species the female lays a large egg mass called an ootheca. You can frequently find them stuck like hard masses of polyurethane about three centimetres long onto door posts, handles of garden tools and so on. The ootheca of the common mantis will include several hundred eggs, that of the little devil rather less. But then a major difference arises. The mantis ootheca lasts throughout the winter and the eggs hatch in the spring. The eggs of the little devil hatch in September and the hatchlings must feed off and on throughout the winter. No doubt that is why it has a much more southerly distribution. The young change form little by little into the adult appearance at each cast of the skin. There is no pupal stage. The little devil is also much more of a nocturnal hunter. The adults are attracted to lights. It can, like other mantids, turn its head easily. This unnerving ability enables it to follow your movements and to look straight at you if you approach. It makes one feel that if it were large enough it would eat you.