THASMA, 
123 
appearance of many of its species this genus is at 
least equal to the preceding. 
The most remarkable is the Pliasma Gigas or 
jGiant Phasma. ( Mantis Gigas. Lin.) This in- 
sect measures six or eight inches in length, and is 
of a very lengthened shape both in thorax and 
abdomen, which are of a subcylindric form, the 
thorax being roughened on the edges and upper 
surface by numerous small spines or tubercles: the 
upper wings are small, green, and veined like the 
leaves of a plant, while the lower are very ample, 
reaching half the length of the body or farther, of 
a very pale transparent brown, elegantly varied 
and tesselated by darker spots and patches: the 
legs are of moderate length, with the joints 
roughened by spines. The larva and pupa of this 
species bear a more singular appearance than 
even the complete insect, greatly resembling, on 
a general view, a piece of dry stick with several 
small broken twigs adhering to it: for this reason 
it has been generally known in collections by the 
name of the Walking Stick, and under this title is 
figured in Edwards’s Gleanings of Natural His- 
tory, and many other publications. It is however 
probable that though of a pale brown in its dry 
state, it is in reality green when living; the natural 
colour fading after death, as in many others of 
this tribe. It is a native of the island of Amboina. ^ 
It may be added, that this insect either runs into 
several varieties as to size and some other parti- . y . 
culars, or that there exist in reality many distinct 
species, which have been confounded under one 
