Barton County democrat. [volume] (Great Bend, Kan.) 1885-1915, 1890-11-06
woNOsaFuL LEAF-iNssoTs.
The Most Marvellous Illustrations of MINI
icry ia Nature.

The Most Marvellous Illustrations. of MINI
icrv in Nature.
At recent meeting of the London
Geological Society for scientific busi-
ness, Mr.. Sclater called attention to a
specimen of a lcaf-inScct living in the
society's insect-bouse. which had been
received from the Seychelles and pre-
sented oy Lord Walsingham- The leaf
insects, of which but few species are
known, belong to the same family (f'aas-
imid0) as the stick-insects. and both are
marvellous illustrations of mimicry in
nature. They are all nocturnal in their
habits, and spend their days resting on
trees and bushes. the leaves of which
form their food. and their resem-
blance, respectively, to the leaves
and twigs is so extraordinary
that it is not surprising that they escape
the observation of their enemies. The
leaf-insects are most singular; the head
and part of the thorex form a stalk.
while the abdomen, which is fat thin
and much dilated, exactly resembles q
leaf. The legs, which are six in num-
Der. have broad, membranous append
ages on the thighs, and these are espe-
cially noticeable on the fore-legs; the
result being that the creature, while
resting immovable, has the appearance
of a leaf which has been gnawed on both
sides by caterpillar. In the insect at
the Zoo this resemblance is most exact.
and the illusion is heightened by the
coloring, which makes it appear slightly
withered at the edges. 1t is the habit
of the insect to hang back downward,
with the abdomen slightly :curled up.
and, to quote Mr.. Murray, this habit
brings to light another beautiful con-
trivance for still further heigh htening it's
resemblance to leaf. The upper sur
face is Opaque green, the under surface
glossy. glittering green. just the reverse
of the myrtle or guava leaf, SO that, by
reversing it's position, it brings the
glossy side up and the dull side down. :"
The eggs of the phasimid@, which are
few in number, are large, and covered
with horny she'll, at the end of which
there is distinct operculum, and are
deposited singly. The insect attains a
considerable amount Of develop
ing before emerging. Mr.. Muir
ray tells us that, 'tafter hav-
ing reached the form of six-legged,
jointed insect. it emerges from the egg
by pushing off the lid. 1t comes out
middle oremost-that is, its head and
tail are packed downward SO as to meet
each other. The back between these
first appears, and they are drawn out
next; the legs are extricated last. The
color of the insect at this stage is
reddish-yellow, something of the hue
of half-dried beech leaf; for it is to be
observed that, although the color of
the insect varies at different periods of
it's life, it always more or less resem-
bles Leaf at some stage. When it
has once settled to eat the leaves on
which it is placed, the body speedily
becomes bright green" Specimens of
the leaf-insect are are not uncommon in
collections; but after death the green
color is lost, and the whole insect &C
quires yellowish-brown tint much the
color of dry leaf. Living specimens,
however, are by no means common, and
we believe the present species to be
even less common than Phyllium sicci-
folium, of which. according to the late
Rev. John Wood, specimens have been
hatched in England, have passed into
their perfect state, and lived for some
eighteen mont Satur day
Review.