128 



THE ENTOMOLOGIST S RECORD. 



success in breeding them. Dr. Dixey's cases showed a large number 

 of instances of butterflies, chiefly South African Pieridae, which have 

 two forms, one occurring in the so-called "dry," and the other in the 

 so-called " wet," season. In the case of most of the insects shown, 

 the descent of one form from the other has been proved by breeding, 

 but in some it was matter of inference. A good many of the " wet " 

 season forms showed a dark streak running along the line where the 

 fore and hindwings meet, while on the whole the dry season forms 

 were distinctly lighter and brighter coloured than the wet. 



Col. Bingham showed the pupa of the rare Binsitti barroui, Bing- 

 ham, which resembles the head of a tree snake (Lycodon aulicus, 

 Linn.), of which there was a coloured drawing shown, with a photo- 

 graph of the moth. The snake is a bird-eater, and the resemblance 

 remarkable. 



Mr. Fred Enock showed under his microscope the eggs of a small 

 reed-feeding Homopteron, each egg containing four or five immature 

 Anai/ri (Mymaridae) , in situ. The extremely minute size of the 

 Mymaridae was also shown by a photograph of Alaptus minimus 

 through a pin prick. So small are they that six Alapti could walk 

 abreast through the hole. 



Among entomologists present we noticed the Right Hon. Lord 

 Avebury, D.C.L., F.R.S., who was much interested in his old friends 

 the ants and the inhabitants of their nests, besides Mr. Edward Saunders, 

 F.R.S., Mr. H. Dollman, who was assisting Mr. Donisthorpe, Messrs. 

 Druce, G. A. K. Marshall, Chitty, Merrifield, and C. 0. Waterhouse. 



The Phasmids.* 



By MALCOLM BUER, B.A., F.Z.S., F.E.S. 

 On account of their great variety of form, often remarkable 

 shape, and sometimes gigantic stature, the " walking-sticks " are 

 one of the most attractive and interesting groups of insects. Visitors 

 to museums, and readers of Natural History books, are familiar with 

 the elongated bodies and slender build of many of the common 

 Phasmids, but probably few are aware that some species attain a 

 length of ten inches, and even more ; the females of Palophus and 

 similar genera sometimes attaining the gigantic stature of thirteen 

 inches. The smallest known specimens are the males of Abrosoma 

 and Anisomorpha, which sometimes scarcely exceed half an inch in 

 length. In addition to their size, Phasmids are notable for the 

 bizarre forms which they often assume. Most of our readers are 

 probably familiar with the females of the genus Phyllium, which bear 

 a most extraordinary resemblance to a leaf ; the nervures of the elytra 

 mimic the venation of the leaf, the whole body and all the organs are 

 flattened and dilated, and the bright green and dirty brown exactly 

 resemble the colours of a fresh or withered leaf, the likeness being 

 heightened by a certain similarity of texture. In addition to this 



* Die Insektevfamilie der Phasmiden, Bearbeitet Von K. Brunner v. Wattenwyl 

 (K. K. Hofrat) and Jos. Redtenbacher (Professor am K.K. Elisabeth-Gymnasium in 

 Wien). Mit Unterstiitzung der Hohen K.K. Akademie der Wissenschaften in Wien 

 aus der Treitl-stiftung. I. Lieferung: Bogen 1-23 und Tafel i-vi. Phasmidse- 

 Areolats (Bearbeitet Von J. Redtenbacher). Leipzig : Verlag Von Wilhelm 

 Englemann. 1906. 



