

ORTHOPTERA 



prayer (name), but in reality to be ready 

 for instantly seizing a victim. These 

 legs, in fact, are no longer used for 

 walking, but serve as prehensile organs. ' 

 The coxae are of extraordinary length, / 

 and the sickle-shaped tibia is pressed 

 into a double row of spines on the femur, 

 just as the blade of a pocket-knife fits 

 into the groove of the handle (raptorial 

 or prehensile legs). Any approaching 

 prey is at once seized with a sure grasp 

 and conveyed to the mouth. 



Family 5 : Spectres (Phasmidae). 



These, as their name implies, are 

 animals of no less peculiar shape than 

 that just described. Some not only have 

 the green colour of the leaves on which 

 they sit idly throughout the day, but 

 their abdomen and wing-cases have 

 the shape of a leaf, and even the' 

 femurs and tibiae of their legs form ^ 

 leaf - like expansions. Hence these 

 insects rightly bear the name of 

 Walking Leaves or Leaf Insects 

 (PhyUium). 



Others, again, the Stick Insects 



397 



STICK INSECTS. (One-half natural size.) 



R., Species mimicking bark (Cladoxesus phyUians), from Brazil ; D., species mimicking thorns 

 (Anophdepis despeda), from Assam. 



