TRUE ORTHOPTERA 



3H9 



The leaf insects, though belonging to the same family, exhibit a marked con- 

 trast to stick insects in the shape of the body, which, instead of being narrow 

 and cylindrical, is broad and flat. The male is narrower than the female, and dis- 

 tinguished also by having moderately long antennae, well-developed hind-wings and 

 short fore-wings. In the female the antennae are very short, the hind-wings are 

 rudimentary; and the elytra are fairly large, leaf -like structures, which, in some 

 species, almost entirely cover the broad, flattened abdomen. The legs have broad, 

 leaf-like expansions on both the femora and tibiae, contributing to the general leaf- 

 like appearance. It is remarkable that the color of these insects, which is either 

 the green of a living leaf, or some shade of yellow or brown, like that of a 

 withered leaf, is due to a substance similar in its nature to chlorophyll, or the green 

 coloring matter of plants; and it is stated that the internal structure of the elytra 

 bears a striking resemblance to that of a plant. All these curious insects belong to 

 the single genus Phy Ilium, and are found in the Oriental countries, and in some 

 islands of the Indian Ocean. 



The praying insects, or Mantidce, constituting the next family of 

 the suborder, have the head turned down, with the face inclined back- 

 ward, so that the vertex projects in front, while the mouth lies close 

 to the lower edge of the prothorax. They have many-jointed, bristle-like, or comb- 

 like antennae. The prothorax is generally much longer than the other two segments 

 of the thorax taken together; whereas the two hinder pairs of legs are long, and 



Praying 

 Insects 



PRAYING INSECT SEIZING A FI.Y. 

 The egg case and some of the escaping larvae are shown at the left-hand side of the figure. 



resemble one another. The fore-legs which are inserted close to the front and 

 wider end of the prothorax exhibit a peculiar form and structure, their coxae 

 being long and three cornered, and often spined on the angles, and the femora 

 broad, flattened, and grooved below to receive the tibiae, which can be folded back 

 upon them like the blade of a knife. The tarsi of all the legs are five jointed. These 

 insects usually have two pairs of wings, of which the fore-wings, or elytra, are 

 ordinarily of the length of the abdomen. The characteristic posture which these 



