130 FAMILY IV. PHASMID^E. THE WALKING-STICKS. 



Family IV. PHASMID.E. 



THE WALKING-STICKS. 



This family of non-saltatorial Orthoptera comprises the in- 

 sects commonly known as walking-sticks. The North American 

 species have the body elongate, very slender, subcylindrical ; head 

 free, nearly horizontal, usually subquadrate ; antennae long, rather 

 stout; eyes small, ocelli often absent; prouotum very short; ab- 

 domen elongate, composed of ten segments, the basal one usually 

 closely united with the metathorax, often invisible; tegmina and 

 wings absent (except in the genus Aplopus], the location of the 

 wings generally indicated by a stationary wing-like pad, bearing 

 a gland; legs very long and slender, of nearly equal size; tarsi, 

 in our eastern genera, 5-jointed, terminated by two claws between 

 which is a large pad (arolium) ; ovipositor concealed by the sub- 

 genital plate; cerci not jointed. 



Our species of Phasmidre are remarkable for their resemblance 

 to twigs of different plants, while some of the tropical species are 

 so modified as to resemble leaves, frequently bearing so close a re- 

 semblance to the foliage as to deceive a keen observer. Their 

 movements are, in general, very slow, though the males can run 

 with some rapidity when in pursuit of the opposite sex. They 

 feed during their entire lives upon leaves, being especially fond 

 of those of oak and wild cherry. The eggs are dropped loosely 

 and singly upon the ground by the mother, where they remain 

 through the winter, thus tiding the insect over the cold season. 

 The outer case or shell of the egg is hard and often sculptured, 

 and those of our common species resemble seeds or small beans. 

 The young, when hatched, trust to chance and their peculiar shape 

 to escape those higher animal forms which are ever ready to prey 

 upon every moving object which promises them a bit of susten- 

 ance. The largest living insects are walking-sticks, found in 

 Borneo and other East India Islands, two of the wingless forms 

 haying the body 33 cm. or 13 inches in length. 



That the Phasmidre have the power of reproducing their lost 

 or broken legs has been shown by Scudder. Such restored limbs 

 are much smaller and have but three or four tarsal joints, 27 the 

 usual fourth joint being absent. If the leg is removed in front of 

 the trochan to-femoral joint it is never reproduced. 



The family is, in the main, a tropical one, and is feebly rep- 



27 Proc. Bost. Soc. Nat. Hist., XII, 1868, 138. 



