128 SOUTH AFRICAN BIOLOGICAL SOCIETY 



The Dermaptera or earv\'igs of S. Africa have been 

 dealt with by Verhoef : Distant also deals with them in 

 a general way in his '' Insecta Transvaliensia.'' 



The Orilwptera (grasshoppers, hottentot gods, and 

 stick-insects) are perhaps the best known of all the lower 

 orders. However, a vast amount of work remains to be 

 done, no monographic account has yet been given of the 

 S. African species, and nothing is recorded concerning 

 their histories. Prof. Rehn miay be mentioned as having 

 described a number of our Orthoptera. On the whole, 

 however, fairly badly preserved material must have 

 reached the different workers outside this country, judg- 

 ing by the orthopterous material found in the majority 

 of the S. African Museums. Such is often in the same 

 state as herbarium specimens are, as a rule, out of na- 

 tural shape and with the colours changed to such a de- 

 gree that it is often impossible to tell the species. If 

 there were no good methods of preserving these insects, 

 I would not make these remarks, but it is possible to pre- 

 serve them in such a way that they resemble the living 

 animal very well. Moreover, several Museums have no 

 collection of Orthoptera at all. In many ways this is a 

 A^ery neglected group, which, from many points of view, 

 deserves the thorough attention of the entomologist. At 

 present I know of no taxonomist devoted to this group 

 in S. Africa. 



Platyaptera (bird -lice, stone-flies and white-ants) have 

 of late received more attention from S. African entomolo- 

 gists, and of the whole order the termites have been 

 studied best. In the early days (1858), H. A. Hagen 

 monographed the termites of the world, arid dealt with 

 several African forms; G. D. Haviland published descrip- 

 tions of eleven Natal termites in 1808, and Sjostedt in 

 1900 published a monograph on the African termites. 

 For a number of years Claude Fuller has given attention 

 to this group, and published several papers on various 

 subjects related to the white ants. In his example we 

 can see what may be done with a group by one living in 



