FIGURE NO. 19 



LEAF-INSECT, PHYLLIUM 



This insect, belonging to the cockroach-locust order, 

 Orthoptera, is found in the East Indies, and bears an 

 extraordinary resemblance to a leaf or a number of 

 leaves. It is green in color and the venation of its 

 wings suggests that of a leaf. Moreover, there is a 

 strange flattening of the joints of the legs, suggestive 

 of smaller leaves. A specimen exhibited in the Royal 

 Botanical Gardens in Edinburgh deceived everyone 

 by its resemblance to the plant on which it lived. It 

 came to its end in this way, for "the visitors, sceptical 

 as to its animal nature, insisted on touching it before 

 they would be convinced." This is a good example of 

 protective resemblance, — though not against man! 



136 



