44 Transactions. — Zoology. 



Art. IV. — Notes on the Neiv Zealand Acrididae. 

 By Captain P. W. Hutton, F.R.S. 



[Read before the Philosophical Institute of Canterbury, 2nd November, 



1898.] 



Plate II. (iu part). 



This paper contains descriptions of new species of alpine 

 grasshoppers given me by Messrs. L. and A. Cockayne, as well 

 as further details of species which have been already de- 

 scribed ; and I have arranged the genera into two groups, 

 after the classification of C. Brunner de Wattenwyl in his 

 " Revision du Systeme des Orthopteres." 



An examination of a European specimen of Podisma 

 C= Pezotettix) alpina and an American one of Bradypus obesa, 

 kindly sent by Mr. S. H. Scudder, has shown me that our 

 species cannot be placed in either of those genera, and I pro- 

 pose for them a new genus, called " Brachaspis," from its short 

 and broad sternal shield. 



Artificial Key to the Genera. 



a. Pronotum flattened above, the lateral keels distinct. 



a^. Hind femora without an apical tooth. 



a^. Antennae three-quarters the length of 



hind femur . . . . . . Sigaus. 



62. Antennae one-half the length of hind 



femur . . . . . . . . Trigoniza. 



61. Hind femora with a minute apical tooth. 



c^. Tegmina touching each other . . . . Phaulacridium. 



d^. Tegmina widely separated . . . . Paprides. 



b. Pronotum rounded above, without any lateral keels. . Brachaspis. 



Family ACRIDID^. 

 Group MESEMBEItE, Brunner. 



Fastigium divided from the frontal costa by a transverse 

 carina,* its longitudinal keel very slight or absent. Frontal 

 costa straight or slightly sinuated. Antennae longer than the 

 fore femora. Pronotum nearly flat, smooth or granulated, 

 three-keeled in all the New Zealand species. Hind tibiae 

 rounded on the sides, armed with more than seven spines 

 (eight to ten in the New Zealand species), regularly disposed 

 on the outer margin, the spine immediately behind the apical 

 spine absent on the outer side. Second joint of the hind tarsi 

 half the length of the first. 



Confined to the Old World. 



* Except in some species of Paprides. 



