ABSTRACT
P is for Problem, and in particular for the problem of finding an insect whose name begins with P. As in the case of O, the path leading to the alphabetical Noah's Ark is thronged with animals of other kinds beginning with P, the Pard and the Pony, the Pig and the Porcupine. Any dictionary will give the Praying Mantis not under P but under M, in the form of "Mantis, Praying". This is gross misunderstanding not only of entomology but also of etymology. There is only the Praying Mantis. By itself the word "mantis" means a prophet, one who divines the future. Few insects are, in the author's limited experience, really inscrutable. But if there is any such, it is surely the Praying Mantis. As Hamlet might have put it, "To pray, or to prey, that is the question". But when praying serves as a cover for preying with the same sound on either side, there is no answer.
