410 
INSECTS. 
[Chap. XII. 
It rests on its abdomen, the legs serving to drag it 
slowly along, and thus the flatness of its attitude serves 
still further to add to the appearance of a leaf. One of 
the most marvellous incidents connected with its organi- 
sation was exhibited by one which I kept under a glass 
shade on my table , it laid a quantity of eggs, that, in 
colour and shape, were not to be distinguished from seeds. 
They were brown and pentangular, with a short stem, 
and slightly punctured at the intersections. 
EGGS OF THE LEAF-INSECT, 
The " soothsayer," on the other hand (Mantis super- 
stitiosa, Fab. 1 ), little justifies by its propensities the 
appearance of gentleness, and the attitudes of sanctity, 
which have obtained for it the title of the " praying 
mantis." Its habits are carnivorous, and degenerate 
into cannibalism, as it preys on the weaker individuals 
of its own species. Two which I enclosed in a box 
were both found dead a few hours after, literally severed 
Hmb from limb in their encounter. The formation of 
the foreleg enables the tibia to be so closed on the 
sharp edge of the thigh as to amputate any slender 
substance grasped within it. 
The Stick-insect. — The Phasmidce or spectres, another 
class of orthoptera, present as close a resemblance to 
small branches or leafless twigs as their congeners do 
to green leaves. The wing-covers, where they exist, 
instead of being expanded, are applied so closely to the 
body as to detract nothing from its rounded form, and 
1 M. aridifolia and M. extend- like head, and dilatations on the 
collis, as well as Empusa gongy- posterior thighs, are common in 
lodes, remarkable for the long leaf- the island. 
