CHAPTER III. 



WALKING-STICKS AND WALKING-LEAVES 



General Peculiarities. 



THESE insects, constituting the family Phasmidse, are 

 amongst the most curious of natural objects. They are 

 most extraordinary in appearance ; even more gro- 

 tesque than the Mantidse. Frequently they are of great 

 size, some attaining nine inches, and a foot in length ; 

 their variety of form is almost infinite. Their names, 

 both popular and systematic, arise from their singular 

 resemblance to vegetable structures ; some, long and 

 cylindrical, look exactly like sticks or stems of grass ; 

 some might be mistaken for moss-grown twigs ; some 

 for lichen-covered bark ; while others are invested with 

 spines, like thorns. The imitative resemblance of those 

 known as the Phylliides to leaves is marvellous. It 

 will be well first to take a rapid survey of the more 

 prominent features of their remarkable body. 



Contrary to what exists among the Mantidae and other 

 carnivorous Orthoptera, the head is ovoid, thick, and has 



