256 



ORTHOPTERA 



" Mr. Buckland had made over these Insects to Dr. Anderson, 

 and since that time they have been regularly fed upon house-flies 

 and grasshoppers ; the latter, however, appear to be rather too 

 strong for them, and they therefore prefer the flies. They have, 

 been tried with small fragments of plaintain and custard-apple, 

 which they not only eat, but the juice of which they seem to 

 suck with considerable avidity, Dr. Anderson, however, thought 

 that it was the moisture of these fruits that was the chief attrac- 

 tion to these Insects, for the entire character of their organisation 

 indicated a raptorial habit. 



" Dr. Anderson w^ent on to say that he had succeeded in 

 identifying the three larger Insects by means of a single dried 

 specimen in the Indian Museum, which, however, was fully 

 mature and provided with wings. These remarkable Insects 

 proved to be the pupae of a peculiar species of Mantis which was 

 known to Aldrovandus, who figured it more than a century and 

 a half before the first appearance of the Systema Naturae of 

 Linnaeus, to whom it was known as Gryllus gongylodes, and also 

 as Mantis gongylodes ; and since the time of Aldrovandus it had 

 been figured iii a variety of works on Natural History, but 

 apparently in every instance from ihature, and seemingly dried 

 specimens, so that the colours of the Insect during life had never 

 been correctly described. 



" So much by way of introduction to these remarkable pupal 

 Mantises, the recognised scientific name of which is Gongylus 

 gongylodes L. 



" The reason which induced Dr. Anderson to bring them to 

 the notice of the Society had now to be pointed out. On looking 

 at the Insects from above, they did not exhibit any very striking- 

 features beyond the leaf-like expansion of the prothorax and the 

 foliaceous appendages to the limbs, both of which, like the upper 

 surface of the Insect, are coloured green, but on turning to the 

 under surface the aspect is entirely different. The leaf-like ex- 

 pansion of the prothorax, instead of being green, is a clear, pale 

 lavender-violet, with a faint pink bloom along the edges of the 

 leaf, so that this portion of the Insect has the exact appearance 

 of the corolla of a plant, a floral simulation which is perfected 

 by the presence of a dark, blackish brown spot in the centre, 

 over the prothorax, and which mimics the opening to the tube of 

 a corolla. A favourite position of this Insect is to hang head 



