278 Transactions. — Zoology. 



During the summer of 1878-1879 I had several Hving specimens of this 

 insect in its nympha state ; some of them I sent to the Colonial Museum in 

 spirits. I kept them alive for some time, although I did not succeed in 

 finding out their natural food ; one of them, however, shed its skin. I had 

 long been on the look-out for a New Zealand species of Mantis, as we had 

 known from Dieffenbach's work on New Zealand (vol. ii., p. 280), that 

 some eggs, or egg cases, of a species of Mantis had been taken to England 

 by Dr. Sinclair nearly forty years ago, and I was consequently much grati- 

 fied on receiving the perfect insect. 



Fam. Phasmid^. Genus Bacillus. 

 Bacillus sylvaticus, n. sp. 



General colour dirty yellowish-grey, abdomen darker ; pronotum, mesono- 

 turn, and metanotum slightly spiny with a few small low spines ; three 

 longitudinal rows of large distant spines on pronotum, 3-4 in each row; 

 prosternum, mesosternum, and metasternum very spiny with long sharp spines; 

 all spines blackish pointed; a close row of fine sharp spines runs along side 

 ridges of mesothorax and metathorax ; abdomen below with two rows of spines 

 from anterior end to end of the sixth segment, which are tolerably large at 

 the anterior end ; above smooth or very slightly and sparingly muricated ; 

 fourth, fifth, and sixth segments dilated on sides at posterior ends, the sixth 

 the most so ; anal appendages produced, broad ; anus very large ; anterior pair 

 of coxa, slightly tubercled, others smooth, or roughish, wrinkled ; anterior 

 •pair of femora angular, regularly crenulated on upper edge, and distantly 

 muricated on both upper and lower edges ; middle and posterior pair of femora 

 with 2-3 small scattered spines ; posterior and middle tibim and tarsi slightly 

 crested at bases, those of tibiffi twin and very small ; all ta7'si slightly pubes- 

 cent ; vertex slightly tubercled, smooth between the eyes and under throat ; 

 antenncB slightly pubescent, black-jointed, muticous, 1;^ inch long; length of 

 body 5i inches. 



Hab. — On trees, forests, Hampden, Hawke's Bay, 1879. 



This species has affinity with B. horridus, nevertheless it differs con- 

 siderably. 



A peculiarity of one of my specimens is worth noticing, viz., that it has 

 evidently lost one of its middle legs ; and now a much smaller one, perfect, 

 though not one-third of the size of the other, was being developed. 

 Fam. LocusTiD^. Genus Hemideina. 

 Hemideina gigantea, n. sp. 



Colour: head, thorax, femora, two fore pairs of tibiae and tarsi, red- 

 brown ; pronotum a darker and very rich red-brown, slightly punctured 

 with whitish spots ; abdomen (dorsal) smoky light-ochre with transverse 

 symmetrical dark-brown (raw umber) bands at edges of all the segments, 



