302 



INSECTS ABROAD. 



lest they should break from their hold, and by their sheer weight 

 destroy the other occupants of the drawer. 



This insect is in the habit of assuming an attitude which 

 gives it so exact a resemblance to a green stick, that as it re- 

 mains motionless it can hardly be detected. The two front 

 legs are held straight in advance of the body, and are either 

 stretched to their full length, or have the tibia doubled back on 

 the thigh. The other legs are pressed closely to the body, the 

 feet clinging tightly to the branch on which the insect is sitting. 



,^< 



■\l 



Via. 148.— PhibaloBoma pythonius. (Reduced figure I 

 (Green.) 



There is one point about the formation of the fore-legs which is 

 worth mentioning. In order to enable them to project on eithei 

 side of the head, the inner side of the thigh is deeply scooped 

 towards the base; so that when the legs are stretched forward, 

 the head is almost concealed in the hollow formed by these two 



grooves. 



The figure, which is necessarily very much reduced, represents 

 tlic female, which is always longer, thicker, and more powerful 

 than the male, which is fully three inches shorter, and has a body 



