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 

 limb 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. extensi- 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. 



