"These Insects all came from the same locality, having been forwarded to Mr. Buckland by Mr. Larymore of the Central Jail at Midnapur. Mr. Larymore had procured them from the neighbouring country district, where Santál women and children had hunted them out and brought them in, hanging on branches or twigs of a bush, somewhat like a wild plum-tree. They are also said to be found upon rose-bushes, and in connexion with this it was observed that, in Midnapur, they were known as rose-leaf Insects, from the circumstance that when the Insect is more developed and furnished with wings, the foliaceous appendages are said greatly to increase in size, and exactly to resemble rose-leaves. Dr. Anderson, however, was disposed to think that more than one species might probably occur in the Midnapur district, and that these Insects with the larger foliaceous expansions might be distinct from the species now before the Society.
Fig. 146.—Gongylus gongylodes, female. East India.
"Mr. Buckland had made over these Insects to Dr. Anderson, and since that time they have been regularly fed upon house-flies and grasshoppers; the latter, however, appear to be rather too strong for them, and they therefore prefer the flies. They have been tried with small fragments of plaintain and custard-apple, which they not only eat, but the juice of which they seem to suck with considerable avidity, Dr. Anderson, however, thought that it was the moisture of these fruits that was the chief attraction to these Insects, for the entire character of their organisation indicated a raptorial habit.
"Dr. Anderson went on to say that he had succeeded in identifying the three larger Insects by means of a single dried specimen in the Indian Museum, which, however, was fully mature and provided with wings. These remarkable Insects proved to be the pupae of a peculiar species of Mantis which was known to Aldrovandus, who figured it more than a century and a half before the first appearance of the Systema Naturae of Linnaeus, to whom it was known as Gryllus gongylodes, and also as Mantis gongylodes; and since the time of Aldrovandus it had been figured in a variety of works on Natural History, but apparently in every instance from mature, and seemingly dried specimens, so that the colours of the Insect during life had never been correctly described.
"So much by way of introduction to these remarkable pupal Mantises, the recognised scientific name of which is Gongylus gongylodes L.
"The reason which induced Dr. Anderson to bring them to the notice of the Society had now to be pointed out. On looking at the Insects from above, they did not exhibit any very striking features beyond the leaf-like expansion of the prothorax and the foliaceous appendages to the limbs, both of which, like the upper surface of the Insect, are coloured green, but on turning to the under surface the aspect is entirely different. The leaf-like expansion of the prothorax; instead of being green, is a clear, pale lavender-violet, with a faint pink bloom along the edges of the leaf, so that this portion of the Insect has the exact appearance of the corolla of a plant, a floral simulation which is perfected by the presence of a dark, blackish brown spot in the centre, over the prothorax, and which mimics the opening to the tube of a corolla. A favourite position of this Insect is to hang head downwards among a mass of green foliage, and, when it does so, it generally remains almost motionless, but, at intervals, evinces a swaying movement as of a flower touched by a gentle breeze; and while in this attitude, with its fore-limbs banded violet and black, and drawn up in front of the centre of the corolla, the simulation of a papilionaceous flower is complete. The object of the bright colouring of the under surface of the prothoracic expansion is evident, its purpose being to act as a decoy to Insects, which, mistaking it for a corolla, fly directly into the expectant, serrated, sabre-like, raptorial arms of the simulator. It is no new fact that many Insects resemble the leaves of plants and trees, and that they manifest forms and colours which serve to protect them in the struggle for existence, but so far as Dr. Anderson had ascertained, this was the first recorded instance of an Insect simulating the corolla of a flower for the evident purpose of attracting Insects towards it for its sustenance. It is even more remarkable than this, for it is a localised adaptation for such a purpose, a portion of the Insect being so modified in form and colour that the appearance of the corolla of a plant is produced, in conjunction with the remainder of the long attenuated prothorax, which at a distance resembles the flower stem; the anterior limbs when in repose even adding to and heightening the deception."
That we should have no more precise information as to a large Insect of such remarkable habits and appearance, and one that has been known to naturalists for upwards of three centuries, is a matter for regret. Careful observation as to the habits, food, and variation of these floral simulators, and as to whether they seek for spots specially suitable to their coloration, would be of great interest. A European congener of this Insect, Empusa pauperata, has small foliaceous expansions on the legs, but its habits have not been noticed in detail.
The very curious Insect represented in Fig. 147, Stenophylla cornigera, is a member of the tribe Vatides; the form of the cerci at the end of the body is very peculiar. This extremely rare, if not absolutely unique, Insect is a native of the interior of Brazil.
Dufour has recorded that Mantis religiosa possesses the power of producing a mournful sound by rubbing the extremity of the body against the wings; it is stated that a hissing sound is produced by other species, and Wood-Mason has suggested[[185]] that a special structure exists on the tegmina for the purpose.