1900.] ON THE INSECTS OF THE " SKEAT EXPEDITION." 83? 



deposited here and there in the cage of a female Marten, a sign of 

 her being in season, which I first observed some years ago in the 

 case of Otters. 



Accordingly a male was admitted from the adjoining cage on 

 January 5th ; shut off again on the 16th, but readmitted the next 

 day, aud the pair were finally separated on the 18th. Pairing 

 probably took place on the nights of the 8th, 10th, and 13th, 

 though quite possibly at other times also. 



Young, which proved to be two males, were born early on 

 April 22nd ; aud by the end of July they were already bigger than 

 their mother. 



The probable period of gestation of this species is therefore a 

 few hours over 103 days, the extremes of possibility ranging from 

 94 to 106 days. 



Beyond certain contributions towards determining the gestation 

 of the Badger, among which I would specially refer to that of 

 Mr. E. G. Meade- Waldo ('Zoologist,' 1894, p. 221), and the 

 common statement that the Ferret " goes about six weeks," I 

 know of no published record of the gestation of any of the 

 Mwtelidee, except in the case of two species in my own experience, 

 viz. : Otter, 61 days (c/. P. Z. S. 1881, p. 249 ; ' Zoologist,' 1882, 

 p. 201) ; and Polecat, 40 days ('Zoologist,' 1891, p. 344). Although 

 I had long suspected that the gestation of the Pine-Marten must 

 be a good deal longer than that of the Polecat, yet the actual state 

 of the case was unexpected, and is certainly remarkable. 



2. Observations on the Habits and Natural Surroundings of 

 Insects made during the " Skeat Expedition " to the 

 Malay Peninsula, 1899-1900. By Nelson Annandale, 

 B.A. 1 



[Received May 11, 1900.] 

 Contents. 



I. Introduction, p. 837. 

 II. Flower-like Mantidae, p. 839. 



III. Another Harpagid Pupa, p. 848. 



IV. Alarming Colour and Attitude, p. 854. 

 V. Sounds produced by Insects, p. 859. 



VI. Insect Luminosity, p. 862. 

 VII. The Use of the Spines of certain Orthoptera, p. 86(5. 

 VIII. The peculiar Prolongation of the Head in certain Fitly or ida, and 

 its use, p. 866. 



I. iNTEODrCTION. 



The observations which form the subject of this paper were 

 made in the mouths of April to September, 1899, while I was a 

 member of Mr. W. W. Skeat' s expedition to the Siamese Malay States. 

 I take this opportunity of expressing my thanks to the University 

 of Cambridge for permitting me to join that expedition as a 



1 Communicated by Prof. E. B. Poui.tox, F.R.S., F.Z.S. 



55* 



