414 Annals of the South African Museum. 



FAMILY LOCUSTIDAE. 



SUB-FAM. STENOPELMATINAE. 



This Sub-Family is well represented in South Africa, where no less 

 than nineteen species wei'e recorded until lately. Several of these must, 

 however, be sunk into synonymy. There is little doubt, for instance 

 that Mimnermus portentosus, Burm. = M. monstrosus, Herbst., and Mlin- 

 nermus prodigiosus, Stal, may prove to be a small development of M, 

 monstrosus. If, as I surmise, Mimnermus puncticeps, Pict. & Saus , was 

 described from the specimens sent by me to the late H. de Saussure, 

 the species will fall also in synonymy. I have not unfortunately here 

 the part of the Mitheil. Schweiz. Ent. Gresel. in which it is described 

 and figured, and the question of identity remains open. Among the 

 species included in the genus Onosandrus, 0. saussurei ? and 0. opacus 

 , Brunn., both from Cape Town, must be taken to be the two sexes of 

 O. saussurei, Brunn. There is one species only in the neighbourhood of 

 Cape Town. Of the two species included in the genus Borborothis, 

 B. impicta, Stal, is in all likelihood the same kind as B. opaca, Brunn., etc. 

 All the other species, save Maxentius kuhlgatzi, Earn; Carcinopsis fusca, 

 Brunu ; and Onosandrus juscodorsalis, Sjodst., are not, as yet, repi'esented 

 in the Cabinet. I am adding fourteen species, and I have two 2 

 examples of Mimnermini which may prove ultimately to belong to a 

 distinct species the <$ of which is unknown. 



The habitat of some of the species seems to be greatly restricted, 

 especially among the Mimnermini. Maxentius repens, however, ranges 

 from Salisbury to Delagoa Bay, and is also found in the Northern and 

 Central Transvaal. It occurs also in Natal, but not in the Cape. On 

 the other hand its congener M. pallidus, Wlk. (= fuscofasciatus, Stal), 

 fairly abundant in the neighbourhood of Cape Town, is also to be found 

 in the Transkei, but does not seem to occur further north or east. 



These insects are nocturnal. In day-time they are found occasionally 

 in a short shallow burrow, under a stone, tenanted by one individual 

 only, whatever its sex. At night they are attracted by a light on the 

 ground, and hop towards it. They cover a long distance at a leap, and 

 inflict a very severe bite on the fingers of the captor, the female espe- 

 cially. The auditory organs are reduced to a minimum in certain 

 species, yet the males of Mimnermus monstrosus and Henicus promon- 

 torii produce a fairly clear rasping noise by rubbing together their 

 maxillae and also their mandibles, which they are always ready 



