Volume 29, Plate X / Entomology (Insects)

Empusa Gongylodes & E.Lobipes

1. Empusa Gongy­lodes. Distinguished from Mantis by a horn-like produced forehead, short pectinated male antennae, and a rounded membranous appendage near the thigh tips, this large insect often measures nearly three and a half inches, with very long slender limbs and an attenuated thorax half its length. Head and thorax are yellowish brown like a withered leaf, the tegmina yellow inclining to brown, the wings small and pale green, and the flat abdomen widens behind into a triangular point; it inhabits East India.
2. Empusa Lobipes. Nearly as large as its near relation and much resembling it, this insect has a triangular yellowish-brown head with a much-produced forehead, round prominent eyes, and short antennae, the thorax of the same colour and half the body’s length. The tegmina are longer than the abdomen, thin and transparent, the wings hyaline and faintly streaked with green, and the heart-shaped expansions sit near the thigh apex and behind the tibial middle; it is native to Tranquebar and the Coromandel coast.