PHASMID^. EURYCANTHA. 



63 



subcylindrical and attenuated at the tip in the males, broader 

 and with the last joint long and pointed in the females. 

 Four fore-legs short, thick ; two fore-thighs straight at 

 the base. Posterior femora greatly incras^ated and spined ; 

 tibiae spinose on the inside. 



1 do not consider it requisite to adopt M. Montrouzier's 

 suggestion for suppressing Boisduval's generic name for 

 this grou]), because some of the species are not so strongly 

 spiued as the type. The Karabidion australe which led 

 to the suggestion, has, in fact, the hind legs of the male 

 even more strongly, although less numerously, spiued than 

 in E. horrida. 



1. (1/3.) Eurycantha horrida. 



Piceo-castanea, nitida, tuberculis spinisque numerosis ar- 

 mata ; metathorace utriuque dilatato, abdominis lateribus 

 spinosis ; pedibus (prajsertim duobus posticis) valde iu- 

 crassatis, spinisque fortibus armatis (mas). 



Foemina multo major, minus scabra ; abdomine latiore 

 convexo, segmento ultimo dorsali valde elongato attenuate. 



Long. Corp. maris, unc. A\; cap. lin. 5 ; proth. lin. 6 ; 

 mesoth. lin. 12 ; metath. lin. 6^ ; abdom. lin. 19 -f hn. 6 

 = lin. 25. 



Long. Corp. foem. unc. 6 ; cap. lin. 6 ; proth. lin. 8 ; 

 mesoth. lin. 13; metath. lin. 7 ; abdom. lin. 21 -f lin. 17 

 = lin. 38. 



Eurycantha horrida, Boisdiival, Voy. de F Astrolabe, Zool. 

 Ent. p. 647. pi. 10. f. 2, male. 

 G. R. Gray, Syn. Phasm. p. 14. 

 ServiUe, H. n. Orth. p. 279. 

 Bridle, H. n. Ins. ix. pi. 10, male. 

 Phasma (Eurycantha) borridum, De Haan, Orth. Orient. 



p. 136.pl. 14. f. 8 (larva). 

 Karabidion horridum, Montrouzier, op. cit. p. 82. 



Hab. Dorei, New Ireland, Woodlark Island. S in B.M. 

 Mas et foem. in Mus. Oxon. (Hopeiano). 



The figure of this fine insect given by Boisduval, as well 

 as the much better one published by Messrs. Audouin and 

 BruUe, represent the male. M. Serville, however, very 

 carefully describes the structure of both sexes, which differ 

 chiefly in the form of the abdominal segments (H. n. Orth. 

 p. 278). 



The last-named author having the Phasma dilatatum of 

 Shaw in view, considered, that as that insect, although a 

 female, was provided with rudimental wings, it might, from 

 its large size, be supposed to be a fully developed female of 

 the present genus, and hence that the Eurycantha horrida 

 of Boisduval was most probably only a larva, which, being 

 a male insect, would from analogy ultimately acquire more 

 fully-developed wings than those of the female. Ph. dila- 



tatum. Burmeister (Handb. d. Ent. ii. 570) also considered 

 Eur. horrida to be a larva. On the contrary, I feel con- 

 vinced that this species is an apterous one, and that it is 

 already known to us in its ultimate form. Not only have 

 the insects themselves all the appearance of maturity, but 

 the figure of the larva of the present S])ecies, given by De 

 Ilaan, as well as the analogy afforded by the new species 

 described below (of which several specimens in various 

 states of growth are contained in the National Collection), 

 sufficiently prove that these insects are no longer in the 

 larva state, whilst their want of the slightest rudiments 

 of wings or tegmina equally j)roves that they are never 

 destined to acquire organs of flight. Hence the observa- 

 tions of Serville and Burmeister on the probability that 

 this genus would ultimately be found to merge into Hete- 

 ropteryx, cannot be adopted. 



]M. Montrouzier gives the follovring account of the habits 



of this curious species : — "On le trouve dans les lieux om- 



brages, particulierement dans les troncs des vieux arbres 



charges de plantes parasites. Les naturels m'ont assure 



qu'il puUulait dans les marais oucroit le sagoutier. Comme 



tous les Phasmieus, il vit de substances veg^tales, mais je 



n'ai pu decouvrir la plante dont il fait sa nourriture. 



Plusieurs fois j'ai observe qu'il avait touche a des feuilles 



de Broussonetia papyrifera, que je choisisssis parfaitement 



entieres et que je trouvais ensnite echancrces, mais je ne 



croissais qu'il aime ce vegetal. Outre qu'il n'y touchait 



qu'apres plusieurs jours de diete, c'est ii dire quand la 



faim le pressait, j'ai en beau eu fournir abondamment au 



nombreux indlvidus que j'ai essaye d' clever, je n'ai pu en 



conserver longtemps aucuu. Je pense que tous sont morts 



d'inanition. La femelle porte uu tres grand nombre d'ceufs, 



de 80 a 100, longs de O^-OOg, larges de 0""-005 oblongs, 



bomb(5s des deux bouts, ressemblant a un barillet, et revetus 



d'une coque calcaire, tantot noirs, tantot gris, mouchetds de 



brun. Quand e'closent-ils ? Je ne le sais au juste. Mais 



uuefois que j'avais eu en cage une femelle, avant de mourir 



d'inanition, comme les autres, elle ddposa ses oeufs : un 



mois apres je vis paraitre de petits insectes de la longueur 



d'nn pouce et de I'epaissenr d'un fil. Je n'en pus 



sauver aucun. Le Karabidion horridum semble avoir des 



ma3urs nocturnes ; le jour il fuit la lumiere et la nuit j'en- 



teudais ceux que je gardais, s'agiter et chercher a forcer la 



porte de leur cage pour s'evader. II sont trcs forts. J'en 



ai vu soulever des planches assez epaisses, que j'avais placJe 



sur im seau au-dessus d'eux pour les empecher de sortir. 



II n'est pas sans quelques dangers de les saisir sans pre'- 



caution. Des qu'ils se sentent pres, ils levent perpendicu- 



lairement leurs pattes de derriere et les font retomber ob- 



liquement en dedans, de maniere a blesser jusqu'au sang 



