WALKING-STICKS AND WALKING-LEAVES. 69 



individuals are believed to be not uncommon, notwith- 

 standing the limited number of specimens that our 

 collections contain. 



As will be seen from Fig. 18, the resemblance to a 

 leaf of the tegmina is of the most remarkable nature, 

 and the other details must add greatly to the deceptive 

 appearance in their native haunts. The imitation of a 

 leaf is carried out with a degree of exactitude so 

 surprising, that it seems, in truth, that the whole insect 

 has been shaped and charged with appendages to 

 produce the perfect resemblance. The body, which 

 escapes completely from the family type, has become 

 large, oval, and depressed ; the antennae have become 

 extremely short, and are flattened ; all the legs 

 compressed and dilated in leaflet form ; the hind wings 

 atrophied, being represented merely by a minute 

 process ; while to the broad leaf-like tegmina lying 

 flat on the back, the head and small prothorax together 

 form, as it were, the swollen petiole or leaf-stalk, on 

 both sides of which the flat leaf-like expansions on the 

 front legs answer admirably as stipules. The insects 

 feed only at night, resting motionless during the day, 

 aiding them to elude detection. During the early 

 stages, when the insect does not possess the tegmina, 

 it is said then to adapt itself to the appearance of leaves, 

 by the movements it makes, and the positions it assumes 

 augment the resemblance. 



