Chapter VI: Part 6

Plate XLVII. fig. 3.

ORDER: Neuroptera. SECTION: Subulicornes. FAMILY: Libellulidæ, _Leach_.

GENUS. LIBELLULA, _Auct._

LIBELLULA PORTIA. Coerulescenti-nigra, alarum dimidio antico
fusco-coerulescenti nitido, postice bi-emarginato. (Expans. Alar. 1 unc.
9 lin.)

SYN. Libellula Portia, _Drury_, _App. vol._ 2.

Libellula marginata, _Pal. Beauv. d'Afr. et d'Amer. Neur. pl._ 2. _fig._
5. _Fabr. Ent Syst._ ii. _p._ 380.

HABITAT: Sierra Leone.

{97}Head black. Eyes contiguous. Thorax and abdomen blue. Wings partly
dark brown (almost black) and transparent, the anterior edges from the
body to the tips being dark brown, and the posterior edges transparent.
Posterior wings longest, a circumstance observable only in those whose
wings next the body are broad and deep.

LIBELLULA SOPHRONIA.

Plate XLVII. fig. 4.

ORDER: Neuroptera. SECTION: Subulicornes. FAMILY: Libellulidæ, _Leach_.

GENUS. LIBELLULA, _Auct._

LIBELLULA SOPHRONIA. Fusca-rufescens, alis fulvescentibus apice hyalinis.
(Expans. Alar. 2 unc. 7½ lin.)

SYN. Libellula Sophronia, _Drury_, _App. vol._ 2.

HABITAT: China.

Head pale clay-coloured. Eyes contiguous. Thorax and abdomen dark brown,
the former being of a pale clay colour underneath. Wings finely
reticulated, and of a brownish yellow, with a transparent spot at the
tips; a small narrow black streak is also placed near the anterior edges
of each, appearing to issue from the body, being about half an inch in
length.

PLATE XLVIII.

LESTES LUCRETIA.

Plate XLVIII. fig. 1.

ORDER: Neuroptera. SECTION: Subulicornes. FAMILY: Libellulidæ, _Leach_.
SUBFAMILY: Agrionides.

GENUS. LESTES, _Leach_. Libellula p. _Drury, &c._

LESTES LUCRETIA. Thorace fusco vittis pallidis, abdomine coeruleo
longissimo; alis reticulatis nubilâ apicali. (Long. Corp. 6 unc. Expans.
Alar. 5 unc.)

SYN. Libellula Lucretia, _Drury_, _App. vol._ 2.

Agrion linearis, _Fabr. Ent. Syst._ 2. 388. 5. _Sulzer Hist. Ins. t._ 24.
_fig._ 1.

HABITAT: Cape of Good Hope, _Dr. Fothergill_ (_Drury_). India, _Dr.
Fothergill_ (_Fabricius_).

Eyes very large and globular, projecting as it were from the head, and
placed at a distance from each other. Antennæ rather long and distinct,
resembling a small fibre issuing from a thick stalk. Ocelli distinct.
Thorax probably dark blue when the insect was living, but being now
faded, and appearing of a dead black, it is also striped with white on
the sides. Wings reticulated and transparent, the superior being tipped
with white, and the inferior having a small black streak on the anterior
edges, near the tips. Abdomen uncommonly long, being five inches and a
half, and of a dark shining mazarine blue. Legs remarkably short for the
size of the insect.

"In the 4th volume of Seba's Museum, Tab. 68, are two figures somewhat like this (being the only ones I ever saw in any author) but are entirely different; the extremities of all the wings being tipped with black, and the bodies consisting of many more articulations than this; the eyes also are not so large and globular, and the feet are shorter."--_Drury._

{98}XYLOCOPA LATIPES.

Plate XLVIII. fig. 2.

ORDER: Hymenoptera. SECTION: Mellifera. FAMILY: Apidæ.

GENUS. XYLOCOPA, _Fabr._ Apis, _Drury, Linn._

APIS LATIPES. Hirsuta atra, tarsis anticis explanatis flavis, intus
ciliatis. (Magn. Bomb. terrestr. major.)

SYN. Apis latipes, _Drury_, _App. vol._ 2. _Fabr. Ent. Syst._ 2. 314. 1.
_Syst. Piez._ 337. 1.

HABITAT: The Island of Johanna, near Madagascar (_Drury_). China
(_Fabr._).

Eyes large, having the ocelli placed between them, just above the
antennæ. Antennæ jointed in the middle, i.e. at the end of the long basal
joint, which is broad and flat at the tip. Tongue horny and thick at top,
ending in a sharp point. Thorax shining and dark blue, covered on the
front with black hairs. Abdomen dark blue, the sides being hairy. Wings
dark blue and opake. Breast dark blue and hairy. Fore legs longer than
the others, and very hairy, the femora and tibiæ being black; the first
articulation of the tarsi being composed of a thin horn-like substance of
a light yellow colour, concave and hollow within, but flat on the top or
upper part; from the hinder side or edge whereof proceed many long hairs
of the same colour.

According to Mr. Smeathman these bees are very injurious to wooden houses, the posts of which they bore and perforate in various directions, so as to weaken them very much. The holes they make are half an inch in diameter. Drury hazards the conjecture, that the curiously dilated anterior tarsi, and the long hairs with which it is furnished, appear to be useful to the creature for containing the substance of which these insects compose their nests. This, however, is but mere conjecture; since it is the males only which possess this curious construction; and this sex takes no share in the construction or provisioning of the nest in any species of bees with whose economy we are hitherto acquainted. There are certainly several distinct species confounded together under the common name of Xylocopa latipes.

SYNAGRIS CORNUTA [male].

Plate XLVIII. fig. 3.

ORDER: Hymenoptera. SECTION: Diploptera. FAMILY: Vespidæ, _Leach_.

GENUS. SYNAGRIS, _Latr. Fabr._ Vespa, _Linn._ Apis, _Drury_.

SYNAGRIS CORNUTA. Ferruginea, abdomine alisque nigris, mandibulis
porrectis capite longioribus. [male]. (Long. Corp. cum mand. 1 unc. 4½
lin.)

SYN. Vespa cornuta, _Linn. Syst. Nat._ 1. 2. 951. 20. _Fabr. Syst. Piez._
252. 1. _Latr. Hist. Nat._ 3. 360. (Synagris c.) _Griffith Animal
Kingdom, Insects_, _pl._ 106. _&_ 107. _fig._ 1. _Drury_, _App. vol._ 2.
(Apis c.)

HABITAT: Africa (_Fabr._). Anamaboe (_Drury_).

Front of the head dark orange, the hinder part brown. Antennæ dark orange
brown, and about the length of the thorax; the basal joint elongated.
Ocelli distinct. From the front of the head proceed two slender horns,
about three-eighths of an inch in length, of a solid bony substance,
bending at the extremities toward each other, which the insect can open
and close together horizontally, and which are the mandibles greatly
developed. The base of these horns extends downwards, and forms a kind of
{99}hollow beak, terminating in a point which encloses the tongue, and
serves as a guard or fence to secure it from external injuries. Thorax
and legs orange brown. Abdomen probably of a dark mazarine blue [?] when
the insect was living, but is now of a dead black. Wings brown, opake,
and shining.

PLATE XLIX.

PHASMA (PLATYCRANA) JAMAICENSIS.

Plate XLIX. fig. 1.

ORDER: Orthoptera. SECTION: Cursoria. FAMILY: Phasmidæ.

GENUS. PHASMA, _Fabr._ Mantis, _Drury_. SUBGENUS: Platycrana, _Gray_.

PHASMA (PLATYCRANA) JAMAICENSIS. Linearis viridis, alis pallidè roseis
costâ tenui viridi. (Long. Corp. 3 unc. 6 lin.)

SYN. Mantis Jamaicensis, _Drury_, _App. vol._ 2. _Fabr. Ent. Syst._ 2.
15. 11. (Mantis J.) _Gray Syn. Phasm._ _p._ 38. (Platycrana J.)

HABITAT: Jamaica.

Head green. Eyes small and black. Antennæ filiform and long. Thorax and
abdomen green, long, and slender. Tegmina very small, and striped with
green, the anterior edges being yellow. Wings very thin and membraneous,
being of a pale blush or pink colour; but along the anterior edges are
thick and green. Legs green; but at the articulations are of a yellowish
hue. Femora furnished with spines; those on the fore ones being smallest.
Tarsi of the ordinary form.

MANTIS CINGULATA.

Plate XLIX. fig. 2.

ORDER: Orthoptera. SECTION: Cursoria. FAMILY: Mantidæ.

GENUS. MANTIS, _Linn. &c._

MANTIS CINGULATA. Luteo-fusca, elytris subolivaceis maculis duabus
obliquis discoidalibus, alis fuscis basi et versus apicem pallidioribus,
abdomine pallido nigro annulato. (Long. Corp. 2 unc. 9 lin.)

SYN.. Mantis Cingulata, _Drury_, _App. vol._ 2.

Mantis Domingensis, _Pal. Beauv. Ins. d'Afr. et d'Amer. Orthopt. pl._ 12.
_f._ 2.?

HABITAT: Jamaica.

Head brown yellow. Eyes rounded, and distant. Antennæ (in Drury's
specimen) wanting. Thorax long and slender, flat at bottom and rounded at
top. Tegmina pale greenish colour, with a nerve running down the middle
like the leaf of a tree, extending, when closed, the length of the
abdomen, being margined along the edges. Wings very thin and brown; but
along the anterior edges thick and yellow. Abdomen yellowish, with black
rings, and broad at the middle, but narrow where it joins the thorax.
Fore legs yellow brown, with a black spot at the tips of the femora on
the inner side. Trochanters flat and thin. Femora furnished with two rows
of spines, and a groove between them to receive the tibiæ, which are
furnished at the extremity with a strong spine bending inwardly, and
likewise on each side with a row of small and shorter spines, regularly
placed and very even. From this articulation proceed the slender tarsi,
the first joint being the longest. The middle legs have a small flap, or
membrane, placed near the tips of the tibiæ, on the first articulation of
the bearers; with two small spines at the joints of the same
articulations, both of these and the hinder legs.

{100}PLATE L.

PHASMA (DIAPHERODES) GIGAS.

Plate L.

ORDER: Orthoptera. SECTION: Cursoria. FAMILY: Phasmidæ.

GENUS: PHASMA, _Fabr._ Mantis, _Drury_. SUBGENUS: Diapherodes, _Gray_.
Cyphocrana, _Serville_.

PHASMA (DIAPHERODES) GIGAS. Aptera, capite thoraceque spinosis, hoc
lateribus serratis, elytris brevissimis, femoribus subtus angulatis.
(Long. Corp. 7 unc. 9 lin.)

SYN. Mantis gigas, _Drury_, _App. vol._ 2. (1773.) (nec _Fabr. Ent. Syst.
Suppl. No._ 6. _Oliv. Encyl. No._ 2. _Serv. Rev. Orthopt. p._ 33.) _Gray
Syn. Phasm. p._ 33. (Diapherodes G.)

Mantis angulata, _Fabr. Ent. Syst._ 2. 13. (1793.)

HABITAT: St. Vincent.

General colour brown, but probably green when alive, becoming brown by
the spirits in which it was preserved. Antennæ about three inches long,
and composed of a great number of articulations (not less than fifty)
being thickest at their roots, from whence they diminish a little to
their extremities. Head oblong, with two short thick spines on the top,
near the front. Eyes small, round, black, and distant. Four palpi, each
4-jointed; that next the mouth being the shortest. Mouth appearing not to
be furnished with strong teeth or jaws, but seeming rather formed for
macerating tender plants. Neck and thorax having a great many short thick
spines on them; particularly the latter, which has a ridge on each side,
full of spines like the teeth of a saw, extending to the abdomen. "It is
evident this species is furnished with wings when arrived to its complete
state, by the rudiments observable in this; which, though they are
exceeding small, are a sufficient proof it is not wingless." Abdomen
composed of seven articulations; the last being divided into three
smaller ones, from whence springs from the under part an instrument that
extends about half an inch beyond the tail, being shaped like a
three-edged sword; each side being hollowed and grooved like that weapon.
When first received, the abdomen was considerably broader than it is now,
being then nearly the breadth of a man's thumb; but now is contracted
one-fourth, and in proportion every other part is less, except the head.
The hind legs are longer than the rest; but are not formed, like the
locust tribe, for leaping. The under part of the thighs are furnished
with short thick spines; those on the hinder ones being the strongest,
and most conspicuous. The tips of the femora are furnished with two thick
strong spines, which are placed on each side the joint. The tibiæ are
short and thick. The tarsi consist of five articulations besides the
claws; the bottom of each having a valve or sucker to it; those placed
between the hooks being considerably larger than the others, by which the
creature is enabled to climb up any thing perpendicularly that has a
smooth surface.

END OF VOL. II.

G. NORMAN, PRINTER. MAIDEN LANE, COVENT GARDEN.

NOTES.

[1] Trans. Linn. Soc. Vol. 7.

[2] Quoted in the British Cyclopædia of Natural History, Vol. 1. p. 748.

[3] Neither in Abbot's figure, nor in my specimens of this larva, is there
any appearance of hair upon the body, and it cannot be supposed that a
variation in the nature of the food could have the effect of clothing
some specimens with hair whilst the rest are naked.

[4] Mr. Swainson's figure of Leilus orientalis is incorrect in this
respect.

[5] Sphinx Vespiformis, an Essay, table opposite p. 31.

[6] Anomalie du Genre Urania par M. Boisduval. Ann. Soc. Ent. France, 1834,
p. 248.

[7] Trans. Zool. Soc. Lond. vol. i.

[8] Figured by Lewin in his Lepidopt. of New Holland, and republished by
Guérin Icon. Règne. An. Ins. pl. 83. fig. 2.