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PLATE XLI. 
DESCRIPTION OF A NEW MANTIDEOUS INSECT WITH POINTED EYES. 
Of the many curious forms exhibited by the different species of 
Soothsayer insects (Mantidm), those which have conical pointed 
eyes are not the least remarkable. The insects thus circumstanced 
constitute several distinct genera. Two of these genera are distin¬ 
guished by having an upright horn in the middle of the head ; 
namely, 
Hymenopus, Serv., having the four posterior femora furnished 
with a broad membrane throughout their entire length, and consist¬ 
ing of the single species M. coronata , Oliv., from the Eastern 
Archipelago ; and 
Harpax, Serv., having the fore posterior femora furnished near 
the apex on the lower or posterior edge with a foliaceous lobe, and 
consisting of several species natives of Senegal, the Cape of Good 
Hope, and other parts of Africa as well as Java and Sumatra. One 
species is described by Serville as a native of Cayenne, H. picti- 
pennis , Serv.; but this is most probably doubtful, especially as 
Burmeister gives this species as apparently identical with the H. 
corimta , Oliv., Latr., which is a native of the Cape of Good Hope. 
The synonymy of the species of this genus is rather confused. See 
Charpentier and Burmeister’s Memoirs in the first and second 
volumes of Dr. Germars Zeitschrift f. die Entomologie, and De 
Haan (Bijdragen tot de Kennis d. Orth. p. 89,) who has, how¬ 
ever, added some species which have not conical eyes, including 
Epaphrodita musarum Serv. * 
Serville divides the species of this genus into two sub-genera:— 
1. Harpaj', proper. Prothorax with the sides greatly dilated ; sides of the terminal abdo¬ 
minal segments lohed. Head with a vertical horn bifid at the tip. [The latter character 
is, however, sexual, all Seiville’s specimens belonging to this section being females, whereas 
the male has the vertex furnished with a shorter horn obtusely mucronated]. Type, 
M. ocellata , Pal. de Beauv. 
2. Creabroter, Serv. Protliorax scarcely dilated at the sides; sides of abdominal segments 
not denticulated. Vertex furnished with a tubercle. Type, J\f. urbaua , Fabr. 
( gemmata , Serv,). 
The three other genera which possess conical pointed eyes are 
destitute of a horn on the crown of the head as well as of lobes on 
the hind femora. 
NO. XI.- 1st JANUARY, 1843. 
M 
