80 THE MANTIS. 



leaves of the reeds which it frequents, that, until 

 it takes flight, we might pass it unperceived. 

 In spring the fantastic and skeleton-like larva 

 of this insect was common in dry places, and 

 none but an entomologist would recognize the 

 young as allied to the adult. The former, indeed, 

 has been described as a separate genus by Risso, 

 under the name of Pkantasma meridionalis. But- 

 terflies abounded in spring, mostly high-flying and 

 swallow-tailed species. Scolias and Bembew were 

 the most attractive forms of Hymenoptera; and 

 Pandarus, Tentyria and Cephalostenus, of Hete- 

 romera. The Cicada was abundant. A large col- 

 lection of insects was made in Lycia by Herr 

 Loew of Posen, who specially attended to this 

 branch of natural history. He had found many 

 undescribed forms. 



By the sides of streams, especially in the ser- 

 pentine districts, land crabs-are common (Tliel- 

 phusa fluviatilis). Their preference of the serpen- 

 tine before the limestone country depends on the 

 constant retention of water in the former, the 

 streams never ceasing to run throughout the 

 heats of summer. To this cause — the presence 

 of constant moisture, and consequently of a fresh 

 vegetation — is, doubtless, also to be attributed 



