262 NATURAL HISTORY OF 



CHLAMYS MONSTROSA. 



PLATE XXIX. Fig. 3. 



Fabr. Ent. Syst — Olivier, vi. No. 96, pi. 1, fig. 1, a, b. 



In this singular genus, the thorax rises in the 

 middle into a tuberculated protuberance, and is 

 produced behind in the form of a triangle ; the su- 

 ture of the elytra, except at the base, is armed with 

 little teeth, alternating with each other like the cogs 

 of a mill-wheel ;* and in certain species the palpi 

 are forked. A considerable number of these insects 

 are known, and all of them are proper to the new 

 world. They are found on leaves, over which they 

 walk very slowly, and simulate death when attempt- 

 ed to be seized. They appear never to make use 

 of their wings, but are usually observed adhering 

 to a leaf, and continuing quite stationary. When in 

 this posture, they bear a much greater resemblance 

 to a piece of withered fungus, or some gelatinous 

 substance shrivelled by the sun, than to any living 

 creature. The species figured is about five or six 

 lines long, of a uniform violet blue, the thorax with 

 a somewhat silky gloss, and the elytra much wrin- 

 kled, tuberculated, and punctured. The segments 

 of the abdomen are drawn within each other like 

 the tubes of a telescope, and the penultimate one 

 has a deep rounded impression in the middle. 

 • Introd. to Ent. iii. 597- 



