MANTID-E-. 22* 



distinct stemmata ; antennae long, filiform, anfl 

 slender, composed of numerous joints, sometimes 

 pectinated in the males ; terminal joint of the palpi 

 ending in a point ; ligula quadrifid ; tegmina thin 

 and reticulated, usually covering the wings, legs un- 

 equal, the anterior pair elongated, thickened, and 

 armed with teeth ; tarsi five-jointed./ 



This tribe includes a variety of very singular 

 forms, which have received the name of walking 

 leaves, from their resemblance in colour, form, and 

 texture to these parts of vegetables. The veined and 

 reticulated tegmina may even be said to represent 

 the different states of leaves ; in some appearing 

 but partially developed, and in others assuming the 

 variety of tints which characterise the different sea- 

 sons. Thus they are in some fresh and green, and 

 this, as in the foliage of plants, is the prevailing hue ; 

 in others they appear brown or rust-coloured, with 

 the surface wrinkled and shrivelled, strongly resemb- 

 ling withered or decaying leaves. The likeness is 

 frequently heightened by the foliaceous expansions 

 of the legs, while the long narrow shape of these 

 members, and also of the thorax and abdomen, as- 

 similate them, in some measure, to twigs, footstalks, 

 or small branches. 



I These insects are carnivorous, a disposition which 

 might be inferred from the prominence of their eyes, 

 size and shape of the mandibles, and their being 

 fitted for rapid motion. They prey upon weaker 

 individuals of their own class, and like most other 

 insects of predatory habits, have a peculiar provision 



