Horned Flies. 



■0/ 



Another genus of the family ma\' be caUed giraffe-liies/ from the fact that 

 the head is prolonged backwards to form a long neck, which suggests the quadruped 

 Then, in the ;-ame famih', there are the deer-flies,- which Dr. A. Russel Wallace 

 first discovered in the Malay 

 Archipelago, which are remark- 

 able for outgrowths of the head 

 which bear a striking resemblance 

 to the horns of stags. Wallace 

 found four distinct species which 

 were settled upon fallen trees 

 and decaying trunks. He de- 

 scribes them as " about half an 

 inch long, slender-bodied, and 

 with very long legs, which they 

 draw together, so as to elevate 

 their bodies high above the 

 surface they are standing upon. 

 The front pair of legs are much 

 shorter, and these are often 

 stretched directly forwards, so 

 as to resemble antennae. The 

 horns spring from beneath the 

 eye, and seem to be a prolonga- 

 tion of the lower part of the orbit. 

 In the largest and most singular 

 species, named the stag-horned 

 deer-fly,"^ these horns are nearly 

 as long as the body, having two 

 branches with two small snags 

 near their bifurcation, so as to 

 resemble the horns of a stag. 

 They are black with the tips 

 [)ale, while the body and legs are 

 yellowish-brown, and the eyes 

 (when alive) x'iolet and green. 

 The next species^ is of a dark- 

 brown colour, banded and spotted 

 with yellow. The Ik irns are about 

 one-third the length of the Insect 

 broad, flat, and of an elongated 

 triangular lorni. The\' are of a 

 beautiful pink colour edged with 

 black, and with a pale central 

 stripe. The front part of the lu'ad is also pin 

 green stripe across them, giving the Inst'ct a very elegant and singular appearance. 



^ Giraffomyia. ^ Elaphoinyia. '' E. cervicornis. ^ E. wallacei. 



The Dead-leaf Mantis. 



One of several speciesof mantis whose fore-body and wings present a marvellous 

 psemblance to leaves. The leaf-like appearance offers the double advantage 

 of making it difficult for a possible enemy to detect thcirreal nature, and atTord- 

 ing ,m .idmirable disguise under which they can secure their own Insect prey. 



aiu 



1 the eves violet-pink, with a 



