COLOURS AND FORMS OF INSECTS. 143 



Oaterpillars of the Clifden nonpareil in a more advanced stage of growth. 



Of the extraordinary tropical insects popularly 

 tern\ed Walking--leaves, belonging to several orders 

 and families {Locusta, Mantis^ Phasma, &c.), the 

 wing-cases, not only in colour, but in texture, and 

 even in veining, are so exactly like leaves, from the 

 fresh green of those newly expanded to the faded 

 brown of those withered and fallen, that botanists 

 themselves might be deceived if they were detached 

 from the insects and exhibited as real leaves. Among 

 the locusts of Fabricius {Pterophylla, Kirby) alone, 

 we find the various species with wing-cases re- 

 sembling in this manner the leaves of the laurel, the 

 myrtle, the citron, the lily, the sage, the olive, the 

 camellia, thyme, and grass. 



The Spectres {PhasmatcB, Lichtenstein), on the 

 other hand, resemble the smaller branches of trees 

 with their spray ; and so minutely detailed is this mi- 

 micry that the very snags and knobs, as Kirby and 

 Spence remark, are accurately imitated. Those who 

 are curious in such matters may readily find similar 

 instances in some of our native caterpillars, by no 

 means uncommon. In the latter part of summer, for 

 example, by beating the bushes of a hawthorn hedge 

 while an umbrella is held under, the caterpillar of the 

 brimstone-moth {Rnmia Crat^gata? Duponchet) 

 may often be found, appearing, as it stalks along the 



