_Tenodera australasiae_ is another of our best known species, not uncommon about Sydney in the summer months on the low scrub. It was first described, and figured in colours, by Leach in his “Zoological Miscellanies” 1815; and Westwood states that the type is in the Banksian Collection in the British Museum. It has a wide range over Australia, and is also a native of New Caledonia, New Guinea and Ceram. It is a more brightly-tinted insect, 3½ inches in length, of a general yellowish brown colour; the apical edge of the elytra striped with green, followed with a stripe of pale salmon colour, and the rest semitransparent; the wings are tinged with pink along the front margin, the whole mottled with black and brown, thickest towards the body. There are a number of active, little, black or dark brown mantids with curiously shaped bodies that run about on the dull coloured tree trunks, seldom flying, (though many of them are winged), but trusting to their imitative tints to escape observation; several of our species belong to the Genus _Paroxypilus_. Family 7. Stick or Leaf Insects. PHASMIDAE. These are sometimes in general appearance not unlike mantids, but the distinctive characteristics are well defined; for though the prothorax is more or less elongated into a neck, and the abdomen, wings, and hind legs long, it will soon be noticed that the fore pair of legs are not spined, but are regular walking or clinging legs like the hind ones. The head is oval or rounded, with a somewhat simple mouth adapted for chewing foliage; smaller eyes; and large, thicker jointed antennae. [Illustration: Plate V.--ORTHOPTERA. Family PHASMIDAE. _Podacanthus wilkinsoni_ (Macleay). 1. Male. 2. Female. 3. Immature male. 4. Showing structure of hind legs of immature male. 5. Egg (enlarged).] [Illustration: _Plate V.--ORTHOPTERA._] They in the matter of colouration also adapt themselves to their surroundings, and are usually green or brown when at rest, though when the wings are expanded they exhibit some brilliant tints. In some groups the species are winged in both sexes; others have only winged males; and one group is wingless in both sexes, the latter generally long, slender, and stick-like. This family contains some of the giants of the insect world; specimens of several of our Australian species measure 12 inches in length; while supposed closely allied fossil forms unearthed in the Carboniferous deposits of Europe measure up to 19 inches and were supplied with immense wings. The female while crawling about among the foliage drops her eggs singly on the ground beneath, where, protected in their hard shells among the litter, they sometimes remain over a year before the baby phasma comes out. The remarkable form and texture of these hard oval egg cases has attracted the attention of entomologists in many countries, and Sharp has figured and described some from New Britain.