34:6 LEFEBVRE ON MANTIS. 



In defining the three periods of life in which the Eremia- 

 philce now under discussion are found, I shall make use of the 

 usual terms, larva, pupa, and perfect state, and shall give a 

 sketch of the characters by which I recognise their having 

 reached them. 



I consider as larvae the Eremiaphilce in which the rudiments 

 of the elytra are joined, and where the wings are attached by a 

 membrane loose only behind, and which so completely unites 

 them, that it is almost impossible to discern their inner edge. 

 These membranes do not permit the slightest movement. (Ex. 

 Erem. Typhon.) In this first state, the insect, which continues 

 to grow from its birth till its full development, will be found of 

 various sizes. In these Orthoptera the membranes are very 

 broad, and cover, one the metathorax, the other the meso- 

 thorax ; and the elytra, still mere rudiments, reach as far as 

 the roots of the wings. 



In the pupa state, the elytra, on the form and expansion of 

 which this new change seems to have had most effect, have 

 increased more than the wings. They have become very ap- 

 parent, but still very scanty, and in truth appear mere stumps, 

 and, like the wings, much turned back at their edges ; their inner 

 margin is, however, separated from the metathorax, and they 

 are capable of motion in their joints. This edge is closely 

 seated in a groove on the metathorax, and one would readily 

 suppose the elytrum still adhered to it, if it could not be moved 

 from its place by lifting it : in short it is no longer the mere 

 rudiments of an organ — it is the elytron itself, but not yet 

 fully developed. I do not think that the metallic colour often 

 obsei-vable on the under side is yet apparent, at least I have 

 never seen any trace of it. The wing, though its extremity 

 passes beyond the elytron, is still far from equalling it in size ; 

 its root is still attached to the metathorax by its inner edge, and 

 the fold which appears in the perfect state does not yet exist. 

 (Ex. Erem. Khamsin.) 



The perfect state, though it affords, as I have before said, 

 examples with the wings and elytra etiolated, must be acknow- 

 ledged in the fullest development of these organs. The elytra 

 now lap over each other ; the wings, too, which have undergone 

 a remarkable enlargement, now equal them in size, and their 

 tendons, though still thick, are but just apparent, and accord 



