342 



INSECTS ABROAD. 



The insect which is appropriately called Cystoccelia immacu- 

 lata is one of the oddest of its kind, though its oddness cannot 

 be expressed by the plain black and white of the printer's ink. 

 The illustration can but represent a large-bodied flying insect. It 

 cannot represent that the large, rotund, smooth body is quite 

 hollow. 



If a very ripe and very large green gooseberry were taken 

 from the bush, the contents removed, and the empty skin in- 

 flated and attached to the thorax of a grasshopper, some idea 

 may be formed of the extraordinary appearance of the insect. 

 In fact, the creature has come to be called the " Flying Goose- 

 berry," by way of a popular name. The inflated abdomen is 

 quite transparent, so that if held up to the light and the finger 

 be passed across it, the shape of the finger can be plainly seen 

 through the body oi the insect. Inspection conducted in this 



Fig. 171 — Cysl elin immaculate 



(Pale green : abdomen hollow and transparent.) 



manner shows that the whole of the vital organs live in a small 

 band occupying the centre of the under surface of the abdomen, 

 tli". whole interior of the abdomen being, with this exception, 



