The nest of the Praying Mantis may be found almost everywhere in places exposed to the sun:  on stones, wood, vine stocks, the twigs of bushes, stems of dried grass, and even on products of human industry, such as fragments of brick, rags of heavy cloth, and pieces of old boots.  Any support will suffice, so long as it offers inequalities to which the base of the nest may adhere, and so provide a solid foundation.  The usual dimensions of the nest are one and a half inches long by three-quarters of an inch wide, or a trifle larger.  The colour is a pale tan, like that of a grain of wheat.  Brought in contact with a flame the nest burns readily, and emits an odour like that of burning silk.  The material of the nest is in fact a substance similar to silk, but instead of being drawn into a thread it is allowed to harden while a mass of spongy foam.  If the nest is fixed on a branch the base creeps round it, envelops the neighbouring twigs, and assumes a variable shape according to the accidents of support; if it is fixed on a flat surface the under side, which is always moulded by the support, is itself flat.  The nest then takes the form of a demi-ellipsoid, or, in other words, half an egg cut longitudinally; more or less obtuse at one end, but pointed at the other, and sometimes ending in a short curved tail.

In all cases the upper face is convex and regular.  In it we can distinguish three well-marked and longitudinal zones.  The middle zone, which is narrower than the others, is composed of thin plates arranged in couples, and overlapping like the tiles of a roof.  The edges of these plates are free, leaving two parallel series of fissures by which the young can issue when the eggs are hatched.  In a nest recently abandoned this zone is covered with fine cast-off skins which shiver at the least breath, and soon disappear when exposed to the open air.  I will call this zone the zone of issue, as it is only along this bell that the young can escape, being set free by those that have preceded them.

In all other directions the cradle of this numerous family presents an unbroken wall.  The two lateral zones, which occupy the greater part of the demi-ellipsoid, have a perfect continuity of surface.  The little Mantes, which are very feeble when first hatched, could not possibly make their way through the tenacious substance of the walls.  On the interior of these walls are a number of fine transverse furrows, signs of the various layers in which the mass of eggs is disposed.

Let us cut the nest in half transversely.  We shall then see that the mass of eggs constitutes an elongated core, of very firm consistency, surrounded as to the bottom and sides by a thick porous rind, like solidified foam.  Above the eggs are the curved plates, which are set very closely and have little freedom; their edges constituting the zone of issue, where they form a double series of small overlapping scales.