During the summer of 1878–1879 I had several living specimens of this insect in its nympha state; some of them I sent to the Colonial Museum in spirit. I kept them alive for some time, although I did not succeed in finding out their natural food; one of them, however, shed its skin. I had long been on the look-out for a New Zealand species of Mantis, as we had known from Dieffenbach's work on New Zealand (vol. ii., p. 280), that some eggs, or egg cases, of a species of Mantis had been taken to England by Dr. Sinclair nearly forty years ago, and I was consequently much gratified on receiving the perfect insect. Fam. Phasmidæ Genus Bacillus. Bacillus sylvaticus, n. sp. General colour dirty yellowish-grey, abdomen darker; pronotum, mesonotum, and metanotum slightly spiny with a few small low spines; three longitudinal rows of large distant spines on pronotum, 3–4 in each row; prosternum, mesosternum, and metasternum very spiny with long sharp spines; all spines blackish pointed; a close row of fine sharp spines runs along side ridges of mesothorax and metathorax; abdomen below with two rows of spines from anterior end to end of the sixth segment, which are tolerably large at the anterior end; above smooth or very slightly and sparingly muricated; fourth, fifth, and sixth segments dilated on sides at posterior ends, the sixth the most so; anal appendages produced, broad; anus very large; anterior pair of coxr slightly tubercled, others smooth, or roughish, wrinkled; anterior pair of femora angular, regularly crenulated on upper edge, and distantly muricated on both upper and lower edges; middle and posterior pair of femora with 2–3 small scattered spines; posterior and middle tibie and tarsi slightly crested at bases, those of tibies twin and very small; all tarsi slightly pubescent; vertex slightly tubercled, smooth between the eyes and under throat; antenæ slightly tubercled black-jointed, muticous, 1¼ inch long; length of body 5¼ inches. Hab.—On trees, forests, Hampden, Hawke's Bay, 1879. This species has affinity with B. horridus, nevertheless it differs considerably. A peculiarity of one of my specimens is worth noticing, viz., that it has evidently lost one of its middle legs; and now a much smaller one, perfect, though not one-third of the size of the other, was being developed. Fam. Locustidæ. Genus Hemideina Hemideina gigantea, n. sp. Colour; head, thorax, femora, two fore pairs of tibiæ and tarsi, red brown; pronotum a darker and very rich red-brown, slightly punctured with whitish spots; abdomen (dorsal) smoky light-ochre with transverse symmetrical dark-brown (raw umber) bands at edges of all the segments,