146 A NATURALIST IN BORNEO 



" It may further be noticed that the female uses her 

 cerci which are attached to the last ventral segment, 

 in the manner of a pair of callipers to shape her egg- 

 case and to arrange the lather-like substance in regular 

 parallel rows along its exterior, corresponding in posi- 

 tion to some degree, with the rows of eggs within. 



"The ootheca is finished off at either end with a 

 sort of rostrum formed by a vertical plane of matrix 

 substance projecting in the middle line of the structure. 

 That formed at the commencement of the construc- 

 tion is short and rounded, while that formed at the 

 end of the process is drawn out into a sharp point, 

 as the insect moves away. These rostra are covered 

 with the lather, in the same way as the rest of the 

 ootheca. Each female makes about five of these egg- 

 cases during four or five weeks ; a single union with 

 the male appears to suffice for the fertilization of the 

 whole series of eggs laid in the season. ... In some 

 way the embryo softens the end of the cell in which 

 it lies, and this falls outwards as a small disc hanging 

 by a silken thread, and setting the nymph free. At 

 the moment of hatching the nymphs come pouring 

 out of their cells, and hang each by a silken thread 

 suspended in the air ; this silken thread is not attached 

 to the cerci, which have not, I think, the function of 

 spinnerets as figured for another species by Brongniart. 

 The thread appears to be a single one of twisted 

 strands, and to be attached at one end to the silk 

 lining of the egg-case, and at the other to a very 

 delicate silk membrane which enfolds the body of the 

 nymph. The nymphs, clad in this membrane, have a 

 distinctly maggot-like appearance. They soon free them- 

 selves from this covering, which remains hanging from 



