Thoreau and other New Englanders called the dragonfly the devil's darning needle and devil's needle because of its big eyes, which are far out of proportion to its long, needle-like body. But the two colorful expressions yielded to the shorter darning needle over the years. Another colorful Americanism was devil's riding horse for the praying mantis. It was also called the devil's horse, cheval du diable, devil's mare, devil's rear horse, and devil's war horse. The praying mantis, or praying parson, took the name mule killer because someone confused it with the real mule killer, the whip-tailed scorpion.