a PROTECTIVE RESEMBLANCE. 



13 



abdomen being flattened until they are thinner than the paper 

 nu which this book is printed. Each segment of the abdomen 

 is cut into a toothed 

 form at the tip, and the 

 combined outlines are 

 exceedingly graceful. 

 They are so thin as to 

 be partly translucent, 

 and the only opaque por- 

 tions of the insect are 

 those which are occupied 

 by the vital organs and 

 covered by the wings. 



The general appear- 

 ance of the insect so 

 closely resembles that 

 of a piece of dead bark 

 or withered leaf, that it 

 really seems wonderful 



how such an insect could have been detected at all. Only a 

 few species of this genus are known, and they are all Brazilian. 



Fig. 450. — Phln>acortieata. 

 (Pale lirown.) 



Fig. 451. — Catacantlius incamatos. 

 (Brown, black, and scarlet.) 



The insect which now 

 comes before us is rather 

 widely spread, the speci- 

 mens in the British Mu- 

 seum having been taken 

 in India, Ceylon, Ma- 

 lacca, the Celebes, Java, 

 Siam, and Borneo. 



Like many of its kin 

 it is exceedingly vari- 

 able, not only in the 

 colour, but in the num- 

 ber and shape of its 

 markings. The speci- 

 men which is figured is 



red, with a kidney- 

 shaped black mark in the middle of each elytron. The ends of 



the wings are dark blue-brown 



