64 TEE ENTOMOLOGIST. [Nov. 



short, the raps ceased entirely, and then a gentleman who had " been 

 in foreign parts " said he was certain the sounds proceeded from a 

 beetle. My friend said it inhabited certain kinds of timber in its 

 native land, and that the raps were made by the male insect to let 

 his wife know he was at home. The tapping continued to recur 

 every spring, and I always shall think that they proceeded from 

 beetles which had come over in the foreign wood when the Lodge 

 was repaired. — W. in Land and Water. 



The Locust. — In the recent number of the Indian Fo7-cstcr, Mr. 

 H. F. Hatch gives interesting notes on the natural history of the 

 Locust {Acridium peregrimtm) , which appeared in great hosts in the 

 Ivonkan. In a few minutes after hatching, the young locusts, which 

 are usually light green, are strong enough to jump, and are as 

 perfect insects as at any time up to the winged stage. They pass 

 through six stages, generally of fifteen days each, during which 

 their colour varies. At the close, they pack up with their kindred, 

 forming the swarms which ravage the country. After a month or 

 so, they assume a red tinge, which gradually deepens and continues 

 until their death, whicli takes place after the sexual function has 

 been performed in May to June. The proportion of males to females 

 appeared about one to six. The whole life of the insect, including 

 the egg-period, is exactly one year. 



