STICK-INSECTS 



26l 



cases. The prothorax is always small, and it is a remarkable 



fact that it undergoes but little elongation even in those species 



that are most linear and elongate in form (see Fig. 148, Lonchodes 



nematodes), and that have the meso- and metathoraces extremely 



long ; it is very simple in structure, consisting 



apparently merely of a dorsal and of a sternal 



plate, nearly the whole of the side being occupied 



by the large space in which the coxae are inserted ; 



the edges of the pronotum are not free. The 



mesothorax is frequently six times as long as the 



prothorax, though in the leaf-like and a few other 



forms it does not possess this great extension ; still 



it is always of large size relatively to the other 



two thoracic segments. This is peculiar inas- 



much as in other groups where the mesothorax is 



relatively large there are powerful mesothoracic 



wings ; whereas the Phasmidae are remarkable for 



the obsolescence of the mesothoracic alar append- 



ages. The middle legs and the tegmina or elytra, 



when present, are attached only to the posterior 



part of the mesothorax ; the notum and the 



sternum are separated by two narrow slips on 



each side, the epimeron and episternum. The 



metathorax is formed like the mesothorax, 



except that the posterior part of the dorsal sur- 



face is considered to consist of the first ventral 



segment consolidated with the posterior part of 



the metanotum, the two being distinct enough in 



the winged forms. The hind body or abdomen 



is elongated except in the Phylliides ; it consists 



of ten dorsal plates ; the first frequently looks like 



a portion of the metanotum, and is treated as Fia. 148. 



des nemalodes. 



Malay Archi- 

 pelago. (Alter 

 Westwood. ) 



really such by Westwood, who describes the abdo- 

 men as consisting of nine segments. The flat apical 

 appendages are attached behind the tenth dorsal 

 plate. The ventral plates are similar to the dorsal in arrangement, 

 except that in the female the eighth plate forms a sort of spoon -like 

 or gutter-like process to assist in carrying or depositing the eggs, and 

 that the two following segments are concealed by it, and are some- 

 times of more delicate texture. The legs vary greatly in the details of 



