THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. 261 



PRACTICAL AND POPULAR ENTOMOLOGY.— No. 22. 



The Walking-Stick Insect (Diapheromera femorata), 



by j. b. williams, f. z. s., toronto. 



We are all familiar with examples of protective colouring among the 

 Lepidoptera. Moths on the upper side and butterflies on the under side 

 of the wings frequently show a close resemblance to the bark and leaves 

 of the trees and shrubs on which they settle. 



In two families of the Orthoptera this principle is carried to a 

 remarkable extent, and many of the Mantidas or "Praying Insects," and 

 of the Phasmidse or "Stick Insects," are strikingly modified, both in form 

 and colour, so as to resemble the natural objects with which they are 

 surrounded. 



The Mantidte are carnivorous insects, and their leaf-like appearance 

 assists them in the work of destroying other insects. The large front 

 legs, armed along their edges with rows of terribly destructive spines, are 

 generally held up in front as if in an attitude of supplication or prayer. 



The Phasmidaj, on the other hand, live altogether on vegetable food, 

 and their resemblance to vegetable forms serves only for protection 

 against their enemies, and not for destruction. 



Their eggs are laid each separately in or on the ground, while those 

 of the Mantidge are laid in clusters attached by an adhesive gum to the 

 stalk of a plant. 



Some of the tropical Slick Insects are nearly a foot in length, and 

 almost as thick as one's little finger, but our Canadian species (Diaphero- 

 me7-a femorata) is a little over three inches long and about the thickness 

 of a small twig. 



My acquaintance with this "Walking-stick Insect" began nearly 

 twenty years ago, when a friend near Toronto sent me about a dozen live 

 specimens. I kept them during the summer in a glass-sided case with a 

 woven-wire top, and they laid a number of eggs, some of which I sent to 

 the Zoological Society of London. These were hatched and successfully 

 reared in the insect-house at the Regent's Park Gardens. 



From a short account published in the Society's Proceedings for 

 1S90, it appears that the first specimen emerged on the i ith of June, and 

 others from time to time during the summer. They were fed upon 

 hazel-leaves, and changed their skins four times before reaching maturity. 



August, I907 



