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THE AUSTRALIAN MUSEUM MAGAZINE. 



genus Poclacanthus. These 

 usually have the hard parts 

 of the wings green in colour 

 and the fore wings are gene- 

 rally leaf-like. The males 

 arc smaller than the females, 

 and their abdomens are slen- 

 der instead of being broad. 



The female of the Pink- 

 winged Phasma {Podacan- 

 thtis typhon) is, perhaps, our 

 most l)eautifully coloured 

 species. When the wings are 

 outspread the memljranous 

 portion is seen to be liyaline 

 in colour and tinged with 

 pink. The l)ases of the hard 

 fore border of the hind 

 wings are reddish pink, the 

 rest being green. It mea- 

 sures five inches in length 

 and eight inches across the 

 outspread wings. It occurs 

 in Queensland, New South 

 Wales and Victoria. 



Another pink-winged form 

 (PocJacantJius viridi-roseus) 

 rasembles the preceding 

 species but is smaller in size 

 and tlie bases of the hind wings are violet 

 in colour instead of reddish-pink. This 

 violet colour, however, fades after death, 

 and the wliole of the thickened fore bor- 

 der of the hind-wings appears a uniform 

 green. The female measures al)out four 

 and a half inches in length and nearly 

 seven inches across the expanded wings. 

 It ranges from Queensland to Victoria. 



The Gregarious Phasmid, or Ring- 

 barker (Podacnnthus wilkinsoni) is an 

 exceptional stick insect, in that the two 

 sexes are of the same length. I'hey are 

 extremely plentiful in the New England 

 district of New South Wales, where they 

 do great damage, denuding the ei;calyp- 

 tus trees of their leaves so that they 

 appear to have died from the effects of 

 ring-l)arking. This destructive habit has 

 earned for them their vernacular name 

 of "Ringbarkers." They are said to ap- 

 pear about the lioginning of January 

 and deposit theii- eggs towards the end 

 of Februarv. 



Male (left) and female (right) of the Great Brown Phasma 

 (Vetilia titan), our commonest species. 



riioto. — A. Musgrave. 



The female measures about three and 

 a half inches in length, so it is much 

 smaller than the other members of the 

 genus. It is light green in colour on 

 the upper surface of the body, and al- 

 most black on the undersurface. The 

 fore wings are light green and the fore 

 liorders of the hind wings are similarly 

 coloured, with the exception of the bases 

 of the wings, which are reddish orange. 

 The membranous portion is purplish- 

 ])ink. 



SI'EriKS WITH A LOXC; lEKSOTllORAX. 



'llie species with a long mesothorax 

 seem to resemble sticks rather than 

 leaves as do the shoi't thoraxed forms. 



Typical of this section, and by far our 

 commonest species, is the Great Brown 

 Pliasma, Vetilia {Acrophi/lla) titan, 

 Aviiich occurs abundantly in the neigh- 

 l)ourhood of Sydney and I'anges from 

 Queensland to Victoria. 



