Within the space of a week, Professor Burmeister saw a Mantis devour daily some dozens of flies, and occasionally large grasshoppers and young frogs, consuming, now and then, lizards three times its own length, as well as many large fat caterpillars. Hence it may be judged what ravages these strangely-formed creatures must cause among all weaker beings which incautiously approach them, and that, far from being the saints, they are, in reality, the tigers of the insect world. Among the organic marvels of the innocent herbivorous Phylliums, their seed-like eggs must be mentioned; for the wonderful provision of Nature in giving the parents a plant-like form extends even to their progeny, in order to secure them from similar dangers. Though generally tropical, yet Van Diemen’s Land possesses a gigantic walking-stick, or Phasma, the body of which is eight inches long; and the _Mantis religiosa_ is found all over Southern Europe. The leaf-like form which renders the Phylliums one of the wonders of entomology, appears likewise in other insects. Thus, in the _Diactor bilineatus_, a native of Brazil, the hind legs have singular leaf-like appendages to their tibial joints; and in the _Javanese Mormolyce_, a beetle remarkable for its extreme flatness and the elongation of its head, we find the upper wings spreading out in the form of broad leaves. The long hairs, stiff bristles, sharp spines, and hard tubercular prominences with which many caterpillars are bristled and studded, are a most effectual means of defence, and often prove a grievous annoyance to the entomologist, from their poisonous or stinging properties. Mr. Swainson once finding in Brazil a caterpillar of a beautiful black colour, with yellow radiated spines, and being anxious to secure the prize, incautiously took hold of it with the naked hand; but so instantaneous and so violent was the pain which followed, that he was obliged to return home. Every device that could be thought of to allay the itching produced by the venomous hairs of this creature were in turn resorted to, with little or no effect for several hours, nor had it entirely ceased on the following morning. [Illustration: JAVANESE MORMOLYCE.]