INSECT A. 257 



Subfam. 

 Anax mauricianus, Ramb. Pretoria. 



ORTHOPTERA. 



The vast plains of the Transvaal are peopled by myriads of 

 insects belonging to this order, and when the summer is 

 advanced it is impossible to walk across the veld without putting 

 on wing numbers of the smaller species of the Acridiidse, 

 particularly the widely distributed Acrida nasuta, and species of 

 the genera Paracinema and Catantops. It is this wealth of 

 orthopterous life that provides the food for so many birds, and 

 their disappearance at the dry season is also the principal 

 reason of much bird migration in Southern Africa. 



A few species are on the wing during the winter or dry 

 season, and the largest and most brilliant example of these is 

 Acridium rube/lum, which also has the strongest flight of any 

 orthopteron I saw, and when on the wing may easily be mis- 

 taken for a small bird. The next prominent insect to appear 

 is Phymateus leprosus, which has a very sluggish flight, is 

 easily captured, and precedes its generic companion Phymateus 

 morbillosus. The most active and high-flying species of Phy~ 

 mateus is P. squarrosus, which increases in numbers as the 

 summer progresses, when the varieties with the pronotum 

 concolorous and that with the margins red are both found 

 together. Another brilliant species which I found on the 

 barest and most sterile veld is (Edalus acutangulus, whose 

 blue and black wings make it very conspicuous during flight. 

 The vast swarms of Pachytylus migratoroides which visited the 

 Transvaal during my stay have already been recorded (ante, 

 p. 71), and in the Locustidse the peculiar habits of Clonia 

 wahlbergi and Hemisaga prcedatoria have also been described 

 (ante, pp. 83 & 65). 



I am much indebted to Mons. Henri de Saussure for much 

 valuable assistance in the identification of the species of this 

 order. 



Fam. FORFICULID^S. 



Labidura riparia, Pall. Pretoria* 



Labidura, sp. ? Pretoria* 



s 



