10 SYNOPSIS OF 1'IIASMID.E. 



the eggs and their rudiments, the filamental portion which is exte- 

 rior to the tube, being filled with the irregular medullary substance 

 derived from the contents of the dorsal vessel. All these facts are 

 well illustrated in the plates which accompany the Memoir." 



The habits of the Phasmidte are at present little known ; but 

 Stoll informs us that they differ much from Mantidce " par leur 

 maniere de vivre et par leur economie, ou qu'ils se nourrissent 

 d'herbes, de plantes, et de feuilles d'arbres, et deposent leurs ceufs 

 en terre tout comme les Sauterelles." Mr. Allan Cunningham, the 

 botanist, who has had occasion to observe several of the Australian 

 species in their native haunts, has informed me, " that the reason 

 why they are so rarely met with, is owing to their solitary and 

 sedate habits, being found always single, or only two in company, 

 crawling slowly up the underwood, shrubs, &c, on which they seem 

 to pass their existence in the hot summer months, feeding on the 

 young glutinous or gummy trees." He states, also, that they oc- 

 casionally disappear, perhaps for two or three years together. 



Mr. Say gives the following account of an apterous species, which 

 in this Synopsis is called Anisomorpha buprestoides : " On a journey 

 to Florida with Mr. Maclure, I obtained a female, which was crawl- 

 ing up the body of an orange tree on Cumberland Island, Georgia. 

 The male I had not seen until the recent return of Mr. Peale from 

 that country, who brought many individuals of both sexes. He 

 observed them in plenty in the southern part of that region : they 

 were generally in pairs on the Palmetto, lying close to the rib of 

 the leaf. Mr. P. remarked, that when taken they discharged a 

 milky fluid from two pores of the thorax, diffusing a strong odour, 

 in a measure like that of the common Gnaphalium, or Life-ever- 

 lasting ; and as this plant was growing near the place where they 

 occurred, he supposed that it constituted at least part of their food. 

 They vary much in colour, but it is believed that the two dorsal 

 yellow lines are never wanting." 



I was informed by Dr. Harlan (during his stay in London), that 

 the female of an American species had actually been seen to eat off 

 the head of her unfortunate companion, while in the excitement of 

 their mutual amours. 



The following is a translation of the account of the habits of Bac- 

 teria bicornis, given by the late Rev. Lansdown Guilding, in the 

 'Transactions of the Linnean Society' : " It is extremely common 

 in the brushes of Equinoctial America, and the neighbouring islands, 

 and deludes its enemies by its resemblance to a dead stick. It de- 

 vours the leaves with avidity during the night ; walks with a very 

 vacillating motion ; applies its anterior feet to its head when in 

 repose, and thus defends its slender antennae. It is tenacious of 

 life. Its juices are green or pale. 



" The imago occurs throughout the year, copulating in the months 

 of May and June. The female lays 22 eggs from September to 

 November, which remain quiescent from 79 to 100 days, the larva 



