262 THE CANADIAN ENTOMOLOGIST. 



Since then I have kept and reared a niiiiiber of them at different 

 times, and though they feed on a variety of leaves, hazel nut bushes seem 

 to be their favourite resort, at any rate, in Canada. 



The young ones at first just nibble off the green ujiper surface, but 

 after a few days are strong enough to eat along the edge of the leaf. They 

 are of a pale green colour when first hatched, and do not altogether lose 

 this tint until the last change of skin, when they alter a good de^nl in 

 appearance and gain considerably in size. Some of the females retain the 

 green colour through life, but most of them take some shade of brown 

 when they reach maturity. 



Tliey are rather "thirsty souls," and always seem glad to bend their 

 heads down and drink if water is sprinkled on the leaves where they are 

 feeding. 



Their feet are furnished with hooks and pads, so that they can walk 

 along rough or smooth surfaces in any position, and they hold on very 

 tenaciously, so that a sudden jerk or pull will often break off a limb ; but 

 such a loss does not seem to trouble them, and if this occurs before the 

 final moult, a new limb will come at the next change of skin, though the 

 new one is rather smaller than its predecessor. 



When resting, the front legs are generally stretched out on either side 

 of their long antennae, and the legs and antennae together greatly resemble 

 a tuft of spicules fallen from the fir trees, that often grow over the bushes 

 where they feed. 



They take about six weeks to arrive at t!ie adult stale, and lead very 

 harmless and inoffensive lives. The males have a well-developed spur on 

 their centre and rear legs, but I never saw them make any use of it. 

 They sometimes wave their front legs at each other when they meet face 

 to face, but whether this is an angry or peaceful salutation I do not know. 



Females sometimes emit a drop of fiuid from the mouth, or rather 

 from glands behind the mouth, when suddenly taken hold of; and when 

 alarmed they frequently feign death — dro[)|")ing to the ground and lying on 

 their backs, with their legs standing out stiffly at all sorts of angles — and 

 they will sometimes lie in this way for a quarter of an hour, or twenty 

 minutes. 



Their eggs look very like hemp seeds, and the females make no effort 

 to deposit them in any particular s|)ot, just letting them drop on the 

 ground beneath where they are feeding. 



