i 



OR THOPTERA. 2() I 



Acaiithops, a genus of this family, inhabits the Brazils. 



Akin to the Mantis are the Eremiaphilce, which live in the deserts 

 of Africa and Arabia. They drag themselves gently along on the 

 ground, and as they are the same colour as the sand on which they 

 are found, it is very difficult to distinguish them when at rest. The 

 traveller, Lefebvre, relates that he always found these Orthoptera in 

 places destitute of all vegetation, and where there were no other sorts 

 of insects which could have served them for food ; it is therefore 

 probable that they Hve on microscopic insects. 



The Empiisa, which forms another genus of MantidcB^ has the 

 antennae indented like a comb in the males, thread-like in the 

 females. The Empusa gongvlodes, which inhabits Africa, has cuffs to 

 its arms and flounces to its robe. 



The genus Blepharis, to which belongs the Blepharis mcndica^ is 

 met with in Egypt, Arabia, and in the Canary Islands. This insect, 

 which is of a pale green, is not rare in the south of France. It is 

 represented with the Mantis religiosa in Fig. 302, 



The Phasniata, or Spectres, are distinguished from the Mantidcd 

 by their very elongated bodies, straight and stiff as a stick, by their 

 having no prehensile legs, and by their food, which is exclusively 

 vegetable. Their eggs are laid uncovered, having no silky envelope. 

 As for the habits of these insects, they are little known, the greatest 

 number of the species being exotics, inhabiting chiefly South America, 

 Asia, Africa, and New Holland. It is in this tribe that we meet the 

 most extraordinary and the most monstrously shaped insects, as the 

 popular names they have received in different countries show : such 

 as Spectres, Phantoms, Devil's Horses, Soldiers of Cayenne, Walking 

 Leaves, Animated Sticks, &c. 



Among the Phasmae we also find the largest insects known, for 

 they attam a considerable length, Phasma gigas nearly reaching a 

 foot. The most beautiful are those of New Holland and of Tasmania, 

 such as Cyphocrana {Phasma) gigas. 



Some species are destitute of wings, and resemble so exactly dry 

 sticks that it is impossible to tell the difference. The best known is 

 the Bacillus {Phasma) Possia (Fig. 303), which is found in the south 

 of Fiance. This inoffensive insect walks gently along the branches 

 of trees, and likes to repose in the sun, its long antennae-like legs 

 stretched out in front. Others of the genus Phyllium are provided 

 with wings, and have altogether the appearance of the leaves on 

 which they live ; such are the Walking Leaves of the East Indies, 

 According to Cunningham, all these insects are of solitary and 

 peaceable habits. They are only to be met with alone or in pairs, 



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