Straight-winged Insects 



691 



l'l„ilo l,ij W. V. Dunibi, I'.Z h., 

 Hrg., lis Park. 



HOUSE-CRICKET. 



Very similar in its liabits to 

 the cockroach. 



the bedside bristling with horns, and these were cockroaches some tliree 



inches long. The drawing-room was gorgeous with yellow satin, and 



the magnificent yellow curtains were sprinkled with tliese crawling 



things. The consequence was that I used to stand on a chair and 



scream. This annoyed Richard very much. 'A nice sort (jf traveller 



and companion you are going to make,' he said ; ' I suppose you think 



you look very pretty and interesting standing on that chair and 



howling at those innocent creatures.' This hurt me so much tliat, 



without descending from the chair, I stopped screaming, and made a 



meditation like St. Simon Stylites on his pillar; and it was, 'That if I 



was going to live in a country always in contact with these and worse 



things, though I had a perfect horror of anything Ijlack and crawling, 



it would never do to go on like that.' So I got down, fetched a basin 



of water and a slipper, and in two hcjurs by the watch I had knocked 



ninety-seven of them into it. It cured me. From that day I had no 



more fear of vermin and reptiles, which is just as well in a country 



where Kature is over-luxuriant. A little while after we changed our 



rooms we were succeeded by Lord and Lady Lytton, and, to my 



infinite delight, I heard the same screams coming from the same room 



a little while after. ' There," I said in triumph, ' you see I am not the only woman who 



does not like cockroaches.' " 



The dimensions of the insects are not so much exaggerated ; for I believe this story refers 

 to the large reddish American cockroach, which is common in many English cities, although 

 only in warehouses. It does not usually much exceed an inch in length ; but tlie antennae 

 are very long, and the wing-cases expand nearly 3 inches. (See photogra})h on page 689.) 



The Soothsayers, or Prayixg-insects, are not British, though one or two species are found 

 in the south of Europe. They have long fore legs, the shanks of which are set with a double 



row of long, curving, sabre-like spines, and when at rest tliey 

 hold them up as if in the attitude of prayer ; but they are 

 really on the look-out for prey, and the long sjiines are admirably 

 adapted for wounding or grasping the insects which form their 

 food. They also fight fiercely among themselves, and it is no 

 uncommon occurrence for a female to tear to pieces and devour 

 her mate, either during or after their courtship. The soothsayers 

 are often of a green colour, so as to match the grass and lea\'es 

 among which they live, and thus conceal them from their prey. 



The Stick-insects, or Specthe-ixsects, have some resemblance 

 to the Soothsayers, but are exclusively vegetable-feeders, and have 

 long, sprawling legs, or shorter ones, sometimes more or less lobate ; 

 but they never possess prehensile fore legs for seizing prey. The 

 wing-cases are generally quite small ; but some species have beautiful 

 large green or ])ink wings, folded fan-wise, and covered by the 

 stout front border of the wing, ilany species are wingless, and of 

 a grey or brown colour, which renders them scarcely distinguishable 

 from dry bits of stick ; and among these is the largest living insect 

 known, a grey stick-like species from Borneo, measuring nearly 

 13 inches from head to tail. Other species have curious ex- 

 i . crescences on the legs and body, which make them look like 



Photo l/il n^. p. Diiado, F.Z.tS., ^ . , ' ,. , , •, ,, „„„ 



Rcgcifs Park. bits of wood o\-ergrown with moss or liclien ; while others possess 



MOLE-CRICKET. large flat lobes growing from the legs and body, which cause them 



A hrown insect about 2 inches long. fo bc almost indistinguishable from green leaves; and, indeed, 

 The very broad and flat front legs are insects are frequently Called " Walking Leaves." 



used for buiTowing. ^ ■- i ^ 



