Observations on the habits and natural surroundings of insects made during the 'Skeat expedition' to the Malay peninsula, 1899-1900 / by Nelson Annandale.

Nelson Annandale

Date:: 1900

Credit: Observations on the habits and natural surroundings of insects made during the 'Skeat expedition' to the Malay peninsula, 1899-1900 / by Nelson Annandale. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The Royal College of Surgeons of England. The original may be consulted at The Royal College of Surgeons of England.

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$by Sharp. This latter insect makes no attempt to conceal itself, but sits among leaves, showing, by reason of its broadened thorax and coxae of the first pair of limbs, a likeness to some gorgeous flower. In connection with these flower-like Mantids it may not be super- fluous to mention the leaf-like form, Deroplatijs trigonodera^ which is sometimes found in the deep jungle near Aring. Though the whole visible surface of this species, including that of the tegmina and of the legs, is coloured like a dead leaf \ and though the tegmina, the thorax, and the two posterior limbs bear irregular leaf-like processes, yet the posterior wings, where they are concealed by the tegmina, are coloured deep maroon, veined and rimmed with white. A specimen which crawled up my leg from the jungle floor made no attempt to fly when captured, but defended itself with its armed predatory limbs, drawing blood from my finger. Very possibly this species also may be nocturnal, or at least crepuscular, and only use its wings in the evening. This is certainly the ca.se with the various species of large green Mantidae that are common through the whole of lower Siam. At Biserat, in the State of Jalor, specimens of Hierodula modesta flew into our verandah in the evening on several occasions, and settling on the whitewashed wall, would feed on the termites and small Orthoptera attracted by the lamp, they them- selves showing no inclination towards its flame. The insects which they caught did not avoid them in any way, but walked straight into their clutches. The larvae of Hm'odula and allied genera are often to be seen sitting on tree-trunks in the middle of the day; but I never observed an adult on the wing before sunset. Ceratomantis saussurei is another interesting Mantis which may be taken at Aring. The head, body, and limbs of this species are of a dingy yellowish grey, speckled with black. The wings, which are unusually broad, are transparent, but the tegmina are marked with curious black streaks. The head is prolonged forwards between the eyes into a peculiar spike. The predatory limbs are broad and flattened dorso-ventrally ; and the sides of the abdomen are produced into several irregularly shaped lobes. On the inner surface of the fore leg, which is concealed by that of the opposite limb except when the insect is struggling with its prey, there is a black bar running along the femur. One morning in September, I found a specimen of this Mantis at Aring in the interior of a fallen tree which I was chopping up in the jungle. The wood was rotten and afforded a harbour to many other insects, such as beetles and cockroaches. A few days earlier another specimen was brought me by a Malay, together with a dead Selaginellid among which he had found it. If this Mantis is seated among the dead wood, its colour makes it incon- spicuous ; but if it is among dead fern-fronds or withered Sela- ginellids, its predatory limbs entirely disappear, owing to their ^ Numerous other species of the same genus are coloured in a similar fashion. [16]$