. The Cambridge natural history. Zoology. DESERT MANTIDAE 253. Fia. 144.—]hila turcica. (After Westwood.) Harpax ocellata that it " beats the Chameleon hollow in changing ; Some of the species of the old genus Eremiaphila (Fig. 144) are of very unusual form. De Saus- sure considers that some species of this genus are more highly modified than any other animals for maintain- ing their existence in desert regions. They are said to be found in places where no vegetation exists, and to assimilate in appearance with the sandy soil, the species varying in colour, so that the
. The Cambridge natural history. Zoology. DESERT MANTIDAE 253. Fia. 144.—]hila turcica. (After Westwood.) Harpax ocellata that it " beats the Chameleon hollow in changing ; Some of the species of the old genus Eremiaphila (Fig. 144) are of very unusual form. De Saus- sure considers that some species of this genus are more highly modified than any other animals for maintain- ing their existence in desert regions. They are said to be found in places where no vegetation exists, and to assimilate in appearance with the sandy soil, the species varying in colour, so that the individuals agree in tint with the soil on which they dwell. These Insects are referred to the group Orthoderides, and have a short prothorax, the alar organs being unsuited for flight. What they live on is not actually known; although other Insects are the natural food of Mantids, it is said that these desert-frequent- ing species occur in spots where no other Insect life is known to exist. Lefebvre ^ met with these Eremiaphilas in the desert between the Nile and the Northern Oasis, El Bahryeh, but was quite unable to discover their mode of subsistence. These Insects are very rare in collections, and the information we possess about them is very meagre. Mr. Graham Kerr found on the Pilcomayo river a species of Mantidae living on branches of trees amongst lichens, which it so exactly resembled that it was only detected by the move- ment of a limb; it was accompanied by a Phaneropterid grass- hopper, which bore a similar resemblance to the lichens. One of the rarest and most remarkable forms of Mantidae is the genus Toxodera, in which the eyes project outwards as pointed cones (Fig. 145). These Insects offer an interesting problem for study, since we are entirely ignorant about them. Brunner places the Toxoderae in his tribe Harpagides, but with the remark that " these Insects of antediluvian shapes differ essen- tially from all other ; Wood-Mason informs u
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