52 TRUE TALES OF THE INSECTS. 



the sexes. There is a general amount of resemblance 

 between the males in being usually smaller, slenderer, 

 and furnished with longer legs and antennae ; the females 

 being generally more robust and bulky, and with shorter 

 limbs. Strange to say, the former often possess full- 

 sized wings, while they are quite wanting in the other 

 sex. When there is a difference between them as to the 

 organs of flight, they are more fully developed in the 

 male. On the other hand, the resemblance to portions 

 of plants is greatest in the female sex. 



Remarkable Nature of the 



But of all the strange characteristics of the Phasmidae, 

 none is more strange than the eggs they lay. Certainly 

 they are of a most remarkable nature, and very different 

 from insects' eggs in general (see Fig. 13). Hardly any 

 one sees them without observing their extreme resem- 

 blance to seeds. It has been suggested that this is for 

 the purpose of deceiving Ichneumons ; but if it be so, the 

 imposition may fail of effect, since the eggs are known 

 to be actually destroyed by Ichneumons. Those of Dia- 

 pheromera femorata are flattened and elliptical, resembling 

 beans, with an oblique yellow punctured lid or cap at one 

 end ; they are brown, with one side which shows an 



