Dr Adam on the Mantis Tribe, 351 



garding the generation of zoophytes thus gradually extended 

 by the cautious observation of individual facts. 



A very remarkable hisus naturoe of this animal was brought 

 me along with the other specimens. It measured nineteen in- 

 ches in length, and had lost the central calcareous stem of its 

 upper half. The lower half of the animal had the usual 

 structure and a healthy appearance, but the portion which 

 had lost the axis was cylindrical and smooth like a worm, with 

 a clavate termination, and without the slightest appearance of 

 pinnag or polypi on any part. The pinnae of the healthy por- 

 tion diminish gradually in size from the middle to near the 

 commencement of the smooth vermiform half, which was 

 equally alive with the other, though very differently formed. 

 This remarkable specimen of the Virgularia mirabilis is pre- 

 served in the Zoological Museum of the University of Lon- 

 don. 



Art. XXV.— zoological COLLECTIONS. 



1. Observations on the Mantis Tribe, or that of the Leaf Insects.* By 

 Dr Adam. 



Or all the insect tribes in India that of the Leaf Insects is the most re- 

 markable for external form. According to the latest classification, this 

 tribe has been divided into the two families of the Mantida and Phasmida, 

 founded on a difference in the structure of the foot or leg ; this member in 

 the former being raptorious, is provided with a sharp claw, and a hollow 

 on the leg and thigh, and a double series of spurs, for the better securing 

 its prey ; and in the latter, being destitute of any such peculiarity. Dr 

 Adam calls two of the specimens laid before the Committee Gongylodes, as 

 ihey appear to correspond closely with the description and figure of that 

 species in the latest entomological works. This insect, when alive and 

 fresh, presents a striking resemblance to a blade of grass, differing in co- 

 lour according to the season, being green and succulent in the rains, and 

 in the dry weather, so much like a withered straw, that they can with dif- 

 ficulty be distinguished. On first beholding this insect, during the hot 

 winds in the upper provinces, Dr Adam could hardly be convinced that it 

 was not straw, and part of the same long and dry grass on which it rested. 

 A slight movement of the headj however, like that of the house lizard, 

 on the wall, when watching its prey, satisfied him that it was a living ob- 

 ject, and on removing grass and all to his hut for examination, he was both 

 surprised and amused at the extraordinary powers which the insect deve- 

 loped. Clinging close to the upright straw which was fixed on the table, 



• Read at a meeting of the Physical Committee of the Asiatic Society of Calcutta. 



