SUBFAMILY II. OEDIPODINyB. 279 



live-oak hammock," and at other localities usually among palmetto 

 scrub. At Key West it was taken by them, July 7, under bushes 

 in high jungle undergrowth of the keys, where its flight was 

 usually low and for short distances. 



120. SPHARAGEMON SAXATILE Morse, 1894b, 229. Ledge Locust. 



Size medium, rather stout, less compressed than bolli. General color 

 as in key, darker above, paler below. Occiput blackish, face and cheeks 

 gray, punctate with black and brown; antennae with basal two-thirds an- 

 nulate with dull yellow and fuscous, apical third uniform fuscous. Pro- 

 notum gray, mottled with black, disk usually with a broad x-shaped ash- 

 gray blotch, widest on metazona. Tegmina brownish at base, then usually 

 trifasciate with fuscous; tips transparent, dotted with fuscous. Basal two- 

 fifths or more of wings sulphur-yellow, this bordered without by a broaa 

 fuscous band, from which a subcostal spur projects half way to base; api- 

 cal fourth of wing transparent with veins and small spots fuscous. Hind 

 femora ash-gray barred with fuscous; inner face yellow with four black- 

 ish bands, the two basal ones more or less united. Hind tibiae coral-red, 

 a pale ring near base, spines tipped with black. Vertex elonga.te-oval, 

 disc concave, sides distinct, converging in front, median carina evident 

 but faint; foveolae small, shallow, subtriangular or v-shaped, the basal side 

 not closed. Frontal costa narrow, distinctly sulcate from antennas down- 

 ward, male; wider, sulcate only below the ocellus, female. Pronotum with 

 prozona constricted, rugose; metazona broad, flat, its hind margin obtuse- 

 angled, female, right-angled, male; median carina as described in key, 

 higher and cristate on prozona, gradually lower to apex on metazona 

 (Fig. 90, g) ; lateral carinae distinct on metazona and apical third of pro- 

 zona. Tegmina strongly surpassing abdomen in both sexes. Hind femur 

 reaching tip of abdomen, female, exceeding it 2 3 mm., male. Length of 

 body, $, 2024, 9, 2834; of antennae, $ and $, 12 14; of tegmina, $, 

 2125, 5, 2531; of hind femora, $, 11.514, $, 1417 mm. 



Living specimens of this handsome rock frequenting locust 

 were first seen by me at North Madison, Conn., Aug. 26 28, 1806. 

 Specimens had been previously received from Morse, and I was 

 on the lookout for it. They were found only on the highest ledges 

 in sunny open glades along the Hammonasset River. In my field 

 note book I wrote at the time: "Spharagemon saxatile occurs 

 only on the lichen-covered tops of the ledges. The males are very 

 shy and difficult to approach, moving short distances with a 

 quick, almost noiseless flight, in longer ones making a rather loud 

 rattling sound. Their hues accord so perfectly with the lichens 

 and gray rocks that they must be marked down carefully and even 

 then cannot always be seen until they move. A female flutters 

 down within three feet of where T am seated. No sooner does she 

 alight and compose herself than two males, resting nearby but 

 before unnoticed, make a rush for her. With short ado one mounts 

 her back and the other jumps on top of the two. Soon discover- 



