'82 AMERICAN ENTOMOLOGY. 



rior pair being similar to the others; tarsi five-jointed ; elytra 

 very short or none. 



Ohs. We are told that there was a time, when a piece of wood 

 was transformed into a serpent, and even in the present age of 

 knowledge, a hair fallen from the mane or tail of a horse into a 

 stream of water, is believed by many to become animated into a 

 distinct being ; dead leaves shed by the parent tree are said to 

 change gradually into animals of singular shape, and to have 

 changed their place of abode under the eye of the historian who 

 related the wonderful tale ; dead sticks also were said to sprout 

 legs, to move from place to place, and perform all the functions 

 of a living body. These, and a thousand other equally ridiculous 

 tales, were at one period or another, more or less generally ad- 

 mitted as indisputable truths, and to contradict them would only 

 be to expose oneself to the imputation of ignorance or criminal 

 faithlessness. And although at present the possibility of making 

 a living serpent out of wood, and the story of animated leaves 

 and sticks would be despised as absurd, yet many are to be found, 

 both in Europe and America, who firmly believe in the reanima- 

 tion of a horsehair. But the most obvious errors have often a 

 shadow of truth whereon to rest, or palliate, if not excuse them 

 by the plea of ignorance or mistake. The historian of the walk- 

 ing leaf may have been deceived by the Mantis sicci/oltum of 

 Linne, the wings of which have some resemblance to a leaf. 

 The Gordius resembles a horsehair, and no doubt gave rise to 

 the story of the metamorphosis above mentioned, and the account 

 of the walking sticks may have very honestly originated from the 

 singular appearance and form of some insects of the present 

 genus. These are long, slender and cylindrical ; and on a first 

 view it is not a little difficult to reconcile their appearance to our 

 preconceived ideas of the general insect form. They are never- 

 theless perfectly inofiiensive, and feed altogether on vegetables. 

 They are, probably, indebted for safety from the attacks of their 

 enemies the birds, to their deceptive appearance, and by their 

 general similarity in point of color to the object on which they 

 rest. 



Spectrum femoratum. — Specific character. Apterous; in- 

 termediate thighs dilated, angulated, and with the posterior 

 thighs armed with a spine near the tip beneath. 



