182 
INSECTS. 
which occurs chiefly in the south-east, and is found also in Egypt and in West and 
Central Asia. 
Passing from the locusts, we may briefly notice a few of the other insects of 
the family. The Tryxalince are remarkable on account of the peculiar shape of 
their head, to which we have already 
alluded. No species of this sub¬ 
family is found in Britain. In the 
allied Tettigince the pronotum is 
produced behind into a long process, 
which in some of the species reaches 
beyond the tip of the abdomen. Two 
of the smallest species of grass¬ 
hoppers found in Great Britain belong 
to the genus Tettix — the typical 
genus of this subfamily. The genus 
Pneumorci, which is represented only 
in South Africa, is characterised by 
the bladder - like dilatation of the 
abdomen in one of the sexes. The hind-legs in this genus are rather short, and 
are scarcely adapted for leaping. 
stick- and Leaf- The stick- and leaf-insects ( Phasmatidce ) are chiefly interesting 
insects. on account of their resemblance to the objects after which they are 
named. They form one of the families of Cursorial Orthoptera, and, in addition 
to the easily recognised shape of their bodies, are distinguished by the following 
characters. The head is distinctly visible from above, and is set somewhat 
obliquely, with the mouth placed well forwards on the under side. The short 
prothorax is much shorter, as a rule, than the next segment, or mesothorax. The 
legs which, in shape, usually harmonise with the shape of the body, are inserted 
somewhat close to the sides of the thorax, those of each pair being separated from 
one another by a rather broad sternal plate; the tarsi are five-jointed, and exhibit 
a pad-like lobe between the claws of the terminal joint. In the stick-insects the 
trunk is long, narrow, and cylindrical; the legs are generally long, and, when 
stretched out unsymmetrically from the body, as they habitually are in the resting 
insect, look like smaller branches coming off from a thicker, jointed stem. Many 
stick-insects have no wings at any stage of their life, and it is difficult, in such 
cases, to distinguish the adult insects from some of the older larvae. In the winged 
species the fore-wings are usually very short, and often cover only a small part of 
the hind-pair; the latter exhibit a division into two distinct areas—one more 
membranous and transparent, and often brightly coloured; the other, which is 
narrower, and placed next the anterior border, being coloured like the elytra. 
When the wings are at rest, the brightly-coloured portion is folded beneath the 
other part, which alone is then exposed to view, so that there is nothing to detract 
from the general stick-like appearance of the body. These insects are usually found 
amongst underwood, or on shrubs and the stems of long grasses. They are mostly 
inactive during the day, and are not easily seen owing to the way in which their 
form and colours harmonise with their surroundings. They roam about at night, 
Tettix subulata (nat. size). 
