PHASGONUEA VIRIDISSIMA. 181 



small house-flies too are readily taken. Tenant 



*/ 



mentions that a captive in his possession ate a yellow 

 imderwing moth (Tryph&na pronuba), and extracted 

 and ate the honey-bag of a humble-bee ; it also killed 

 and fed freely on butterflies supplied to it. Like 

 other Locustids, this species readily turns cannibal, 

 and feeds on dead examples of its own species, 

 possibly having killed the victims first. The ento- 

 mologist's " sugar ' has frequently been found attrac- 

 tive- -not only the sugar itself, but also the moths 

 that come to feast upon the sweets. It will feed on 

 sugar in captivity. 



Many an account has been mven of the harsh and 



/ o 



strident 'song" of the great green grasshopper and 

 of the means by which the sound is produced. In an 

 early volume of the ' Entomologist "* will be found 

 the following interesting note on this subject by 

 R. L ad dim an n :- 



"I have for several years past been entertained by 

 their nocturnal concerts in my ' mothing ' expeditions. 

 The males commence their stridulations just before 

 sundown, which extend far into the night, and the per- 

 formance of several of these insects in close proximity 

 is almost deafening. . . . The male takes up his 

 position on the topmost twig in the hedgerow- -often 

 on an ear of corn- -which position he will maintain 

 during the whole of the evening, and will there 



o o 



6 rasp ' away unceasingly for hours, if not disturbed ; 

 he will often be found performing on or near the 

 same twio- the next evening Three years ao;o I turned 



o D t/ o 



out a male of this insect in my garden, who perched 

 himself on the topmost branch of a tall larch tree, 

 where he carried on his harsh evensong for more than 

 a week, when I missed him and never heard him 

 afterwards. These insects seem to be sifted with a 



o 



species of ventriloquism, for it is often extremely 

 difficult to mark the spot whence the ' singing ' 

 appears to proceed. ... In confinement these grass- 



* 1879, p. 21. 



