Sketches of Natural History of Ceylon eBook

J. Emerson Tennent
This eBook from the Gutenberg Project consists of approximately 590 pages of information about Sketches of Natural History of Ceylon.

Sketches of Natural History of Ceylon eBook

J. Emerson Tennent
This eBook from the Gutenberg Project consists of approximately 590 pages of information about Sketches of Natural History of Ceylon.

ORTHOPTERA. Leaf-insects.—­But in relation to the insects of Ceylon the admiration of their colours is still less exciting than the astonishment created by the forms in which some of the families present themselves; especially the “soothsayers” (Mantidae) and “walking leaves.”  The latter[1], exhibiting the most cunning of all nature’s devices for the preservation of her creatures, are found in the jungle in all varieties of hues, from the pale yellow of an opening bud to the rich green of the full-blown leaf, and the withered tint of decay.  So perfect is the imitation of a leaf in structure and articulation, that this amazing insect when at rest is almost undistinguishable from the foliage around:  not only are the wings modelled to resemble ribbed and fibrous follicles, but every joint of the legs is expanded into a broad plait like a half-opened leaflet.

[Footnote 1:  Phyllium siccifolium.]

[Illustration:  STICK INSECT AND MANTIS]

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 organisation 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.

[Illustration]

The “soothsayer,” on the other hand (Mantis superstitiosa. 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.

[Footnote 1:  M. aridifolia and M. extensicollis, as well as Empusa gongylodes, remarkable for the long leaf-like head, and dilatations on the posterior thighs, are common in the island.]

The Stick-insect.—­The Phasmidae 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 hence the name which they have acquired of “walking-sticks.”  Like the Phyllium, the Phasma lives exclusively on vegetables, and some attain the length of several inches.

Of all the other tribes of the Orthoptera Ceylon possesses many representatives; in swarms of cockroaches, grasshoppers, locusts, and crickets.

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Sketches of Natural History of Ceylon from Project Gutenberg. Public domain.