THE EMPUSA. 



299 



There seems to be absolutely no limit to the extraordinary 

 forms which are seen in these insects, each new shape appearing 

 more strange and grotesque than its predecessors. Here is an 

 example, viz., the Empusa gongyloides of Ceylon ; an insect whose 

 name and appearance are 

 equally grotesque and per- 

 fectly suitable to each other. 



Every peculiarity of the 

 Mantidse seems to be exagge- 

 rated in this species. The 

 elongated thorax is drawn 

 out to a wonderful length, so 

 that the fore-legs are at a 

 great distance from the middle 

 pair, and, when the creature 

 is among the branches, look 

 almost as if thev belonged to 

 two different insects. The 

 sides of the upper portion of 

 the thorax are flattened and 

 pointed ; the rnptorial fore- 

 legs look, with their sharp 

 edges and deep grooves, just 

 like a pair of dry beech-nuts 

 armed with sharp thorns ; the 

 other legs have circular, flat 

 projections like patches of 

 dry leaf stuck on the ends of 

 the thighs ; the elytra look 

 just like two withered but 

 entire leaves, while the sides of the abdomen are flattened, 

 pinched, and torn into a weird resemblance of dead leaves that 

 have been blown about by the wind, and tattered by the thorns 

 and stones among which they have been hurled. 



The word Empusa is Greek, and is the name of a terrible 

 female goblin that was thought to haunt sleeping infants aud 

 suck their blood. 



Fig. 147. — Empusa gongyloides. 

 (Biown.) 



