Object Status:
Unlocated
Accession Date:
June 1782
Primary Source Reference:
Du Simitière Memorandum Books, Library of Congress, fol. 66r
Additional Source Text:
"One commonly call'd John Cook's horse le Cheval du Diable (mantis) about two inches long, the other a black ichneuman fly, with an uncommon long tail divided into five joints 1/4 of an inch long, each, and very long hind legs."
Notes:
Cheval du diable is a Cajun French term for the praying mantis.
Du Simitière may have had a copy of Griffith Hughes, The Natural History of Barbados: In Ten Books (London, 1750), pp. 67-68 of which has an account of John Cook's Horse, pictured here.
Chalkley James (1754-1825) was a native of Philadelphia who later lived in Burlington, N.J.
Specimen Type:
Dead/preserved
Du Simitière's Common Name:
John Cook's horse
Current Common Name:
Praying mantis
Current Scientific Name
Mantis religiosa
