ORTHOPTERA. ''■^■t^- 



I, ''0. 



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By R. C. L. Perkins. 



c. 



§ 1. General considerations on the Orthoptera. 



The Hawaiian Orthoptera, although not very numerous in species, are neverthe- 

 less an interesting and important group. In all seventy-three species are at present 

 known, but of these a large proportion have no place in the indigenous fauna. Of 

 the seven great divisions of the Order, the Phasmodea alone are altogether unrepre- 

 sented. The Mantodea and Acridiodea have each a single species, both of which are 

 known from elsewhere, and have certainly been imported by man. 



The Dermaptera and Blattodea are more numerously represented, and together 

 form a considerable portion of the whole fauna, but nearly all the species are well-known 

 insects outside the islands, and the importation of many of them has been rendered easy 

 by their domestic habits. In the Dermaptera there are 4 genera represented, and 

 7 species, none of which are endemic ; but they are nevertheless of some interest from 

 the fact that some of them are in all probability natural immigrants. Thus Anisolabis 

 pacifica has been found only on one of the islands, and there only at a considerable 

 elevation above the sea in the mountain forests, where it is well established. Some 

 of the species too exhibit very considerable variation, when a series of examples is 

 examined, but whether these species are similarly variable in other countries I do not 

 know, as the material necessary for such a comjaarison has not been available. 



The Blattodea are a heterogeneous collection of 1 5 species, four of which belong 

 to the genus Phyllodromia, the remaining eleven representing, each one, a different genus. 

 Three species are not at present identified from any locality outside the islands, but in 

 spite of this, two of them {Phyllodromia hospes and Loboptera extraned) will certainl)' 

 prove to be recent importations, both being found in company with the foreign forms 

 in the neighbourhood of houses, and in localities, where no native fauna now exists. 

 The third species {Phyllodromia obtusatd), on the other hand, is no doubt truly in- 

 digenous, frequenting the mountain forests, where it is found amongst the leaves of 

 native plants, and beneath the bark of the larger trees. This species is notably variable, 

 and on some of the islands the variation is in a definite direction, so that it would 



F. H. II. I 



