Zoology.-] NATURAL HISTORY OF VICTORIA. [/meets. 



Plate 109, Figs. 1-3. 



LOCUSTA VIGENTISSIMA (Sebv.). 



The Great Green Gum-teee Grasshopper. 



[Genus LOCUSTA (Fade.). (Sub-kingd. Articulata. Class Insecta. Order Orthop- 

 tera. Section Saltatoria. Fam. Gryllidae). 



Gen. Char. — Head vertical, front flattened, sides rounded, smooth, unridged, upper front 

 margin projecting between bases of antennae in a short, conical tubercle. Antennae setaceous, 

 longer than the body, closely approximated at base ; 1st joint* as large as the frontal tubercle ; 

 2nd joint short. Eyes globular; ocelli none. Labrurn sinal, rounded at tip ; mandible Btrong ; 

 maxillary palpi much longer than the labial ; terminal joint scarcely, or but little, larger than 

 the preceding, moderately widened at tip, and obliquely truncated. Legs long, slender; thighs 

 very slender, Blightly spinous below; anterior haunches with a curved spine on outer side; 

 anterior pair of tibia? in both sexes with a swelling on the outer side of the basal joint, con- 

 taining a hollow which is in great part covered over with a semioval lobe ; the 4 anterior tibia? 

 strongly spinous ; posterior tibia) with fine, close, numerous, minute spines on the two upper 

 keels, in addition to those below ; tarsi 4-jointed, the 3rd with 2 very large lobes, basal and 

 2nd joint witli smaller lobes. Prothorax with a flat disc, obscurely keeled at the deflexed sides, 

 a little narrowed in front; presternum with 2 long, straight, close spines; meso- and nieta- 

 sternum each divided longitudinally by a wide sulcus, each side bearing a conical, pointed 

 tubercle. Tegmina long, rounded at tip, extending beyond the tip of the abdomen ; stridulating 

 spot of right one transparent and glossy in middle ; hind wings equalling the tegmina in length. 

 Abdominal appendages thick, short; sub-anal plate in male bent upwards, not extending 

 beyond the abdomen, with lateral, setaceous appendages ; ovipositor very long, narrow, straight, 

 a little wider at base ; valves 6, pointed, slightly hollowed above.] 



Description. — Male: Head yellowish-brown, with a green patch on each side; 

 tubercle between bases of antenna: conical, horizontal, divided by a mesial groove ; 

 front of head and labrum ferruginous tawny-yellow ; maxillary and labial palpi 

 green in most specimens. Eyes large, very prominent, yellowish-brown, mottled. 

 Prothorax tawny-brown above, saddle-shaped, nearly smooth, with a i'ew transverse 

 lines above; deflected sides green, rugosely pitted, and wrinkled; each of the three 

 segments of the sternum with 2 conical spines, those of the front segment most 

 slender and acute. Tegmina, or anterior wings, dull " gum-leaf " green, with the 

 longitudinal vein very thick, prominent, and yellowish-brown; stridulating, bright, 

 mica-like organ at base of left (or upper, when at rest) tegmina, very large, 

 iridescent, opaline, surrounded by ridged, rugged, yellowish-brown margins, that of 

 right tegmina with very bright, central spot; hinder wings transparent, almost 

 colorless, tinged with green, veins green, equalling the tegmina in length when at 

 rest, and extending nearly half their length beyond the abdomen; under part of 

 body and all the legs yellowish-brown, tinged with greenish below and at the joints 

 above ; femora of all the legs channelled below, the bounding ridges set each with 

 a row of small spines, very much smaller on the posterior thighs than on the four 

 anterior ones; keels of the tibiae set with curved, sharp spines, much larger on the 

 two anterior pairs than on the posterior pair ; cavity in swollen base of anterior 

 tibiae reduced to a long-, narrow slit; antennae extending about one-fourth of their 

 length be}'ond the end of abdomen, of a brownish color. Length of male from 



* 1 notice a perforated papilla, or foramen, on the anterior or lower base of the basal joint of the Antenna, like 

 the opening to the eara in the base of the large antennae ol the Macrouroua cnutacea, and these, I thiol', may also be 

 the organs of bearing ; the positions of which have not as yet been indicated in in 



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