121 
PHASMA. 
common name. The ingenious Mr. Donovan, in 
his elegant publication entitled ‘‘ An Epitome of 
the Insects of China,” mentions a specimen nearly 
thirteen inches in length. In the Leverian Mu- 
seum exists a very capital specimen, which has 
been figured in the Naturalist’s Miscellany; but 
the most exquisite representation yet given is in 
the incomparable work of Stoll. 
The Fhasma dllalatum is another extraordinary 
species, and seems to have been first described 
in the fourth volume of the Ttansactions of the 
Linnman Society by Mr, John Parkinson. It is 
preserved in the Leverian Museum. The descrip- 
tion given in the Liniicean Transactions runs as 
follows. 
This singular animal, which appears to be a 
species hitherto undescribed, is at present in the 
Leverian Museum. It is supposed to be a native 
of Asia, and belongs to that tribe of insects which 
Stoll has called Spectres, and which constitute a 
distinct genus from that of Mantis. The present 
species measures six inches and a quarter from 
the upper part or top of the head to the extremity 
of the abdomen. The whole animal is of a flattened 
form, more especially on the abdomen, which mea- 
sures about an inch and half across in its broadest 
part: the thorax is of an obtusely rhomboidal 
form, the sides sloping each way from the flattish 
upper part, The whole thorax is not only edged 
with spines, but has also several very sharp ones 
distantly scattered over its surface. The head 
rises up backwards into an obtusely conic shape. 
