"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 {257}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.