152 A NATURALIST IN BORNEO 



of the greatest importance to the entomologist in 

 enabling him to classify his collections, can generally 

 be of no importance to the insects themselves in their 

 struggle for life. What is termed a natural system of 

 classification, that is, a system displaying the relation- 

 ship of one form to another, cannot be arrived at if 

 the classifier confines his attention to characters that 

 must be of enormous biological importance to the 

 animals themselves, such as the presence or absence 

 of wings, the shape and colour of the body and its 

 appendages. It seems to me that the claws of insects 

 come into the category of structures whose form is 

 indifferent to the species but of great use to the sys- 

 tematist. Perhaps we may learn some day the reasons 

 for the persistence of such structures of taxonomic 

 importance, even when they are of no value to the 

 creatures possessing them, but at present we are stand- 

 ing on an isolated rock of knowledge, gazing down 

 into the vast abyss of the unknown. 



The eggs of Phasmidce are extremely like seeds, and 

 on this account have for long attracted the notice of 

 naturalists. It is really one of the marvels of nature 

 that insects, resembling plant structures so closely, 

 should have the resemblance extended even to the 

 eggs which they deposit, and it has even been 

 stated that the microscopic structure of the egg- 

 shells is identical with that of seed-coats. Many 

 species lay large numbers of eggs, and they are 

 dropped on the ground in the most casual manner 

 possible while the females are feeding. The eggs, 

 owing to their hard shells, are well protected 

 from the attacks of ants and parasitic Hymenoptera, 

 the foes that are most likely to destroy them. As a 



