478 Phenomena of Autotomy in Phasmide. 
in spite of this my attempts remained fruitless, albeit I 
employed the most energetic methods—rapid cuts, inflicted 
in succession upon the same femur; then the effect of burning, 
until the limb was reduced to a simple stump. Sometimes I 
lifted the insect by this stump and shook it violently. The 
result of this was a tearing of the membrane situated between 
the thorax and the coxa, or, more often, of that which unites 
the coxa to the trochanter. ‘Tis tear presented very irregular 
contours, with a bunch of muscular fibres detached by the 
tension. 
I must further make mention of the longer or shorter 
interval that elapses between the production of the stimulus 
and the detachment of the limb. This interval, which is 
sometimes less than one second, may also extend to as much 
as ten minutes. 
To recapitulate: autotomy is clearly exhibited in the case 
of Monandroptera inuncans, and especially in Rhaphiderus 
scabrosus, but in an irregular, or even, one might say, ina 
capricious fashion. The limbs belonging to the anterior pair 
are usually those which most readily become detached. In 
these insects, however, autotomy is never produced so easily 
as in the saltatory Orthoptera, such as the grasshoppers, 
whose great posterior legs always detach themselves so quickly 
when the femur is pinched, even very slightly, or when it is 
suddenly cut through. Lastly, while in the case of the grass- 
hopper it is the contraction of a single muscle or of a small 
numberof muscles that causes the rupture, in the Phasmide the 
latter takes place only after very vigorous muscular contrac- 
tions affecting the entire body. These contractions are more 
violent in the females than in the males. In the enormous 
heavy females of Monandroptera inuncans especially they are 
very remarkable, and in such cases there sometimes takes 
place, after the rupture, a loss of blood more considerable than 
usual, represented by a large greenish drop. This hemorrhage, 
although arrested pretty quickly by coagulation, is never- 
theless sufficient, if it again ensues owing to the loss of three 
or four other limbs, to cause flaccidity of the body and the 
death of the insect after an interval of from twelve to twenty 
hours. 
When autotomy is produced by the bite of the ants it may 
be followed by hemorrhage if the insect be abandoned to its 
aggressors for a few minutes, since, by their repeated bites 
inflicted upon the raw wound, they prevent the coagulation 
of the blood. 
