118 
BRAZILIAN ORTHOPTERA 
Gryllidae 
GRYLLOTALPINAE 
Gryllotalpa hexadactyla*® Perty 
1832. Gryllotalpa hexadactyla Perty, Delect. Anim. Artie. Brasil., p. 119, pi. 
23, fig. 9. [Mountains of Minas Geraes, Brazil.] 
Rio Ucayali, Peru. Two females. 
Rio Pacaya, Peru. July, 1912. Two females. 
We record these specimens here chiefly as a reason for calling 
attention to a structural variation in the species. The clorso- 
internal margin of the caudal tibiae is normally unarmed in this 
species, but in one of the specimens from the Rio Ucayali, this 
margin on one limb bears a single median spine and on the other 
bears two spines. We have also examined a specimen from 
Bartica, British Guiana, which bears a single spine in this position 
on one caudal femur, while the other femur is unspined. A sim- 
ilar condition exists in seven specimens in the North American 
series of the species in the collection of the Academy,^® while one 
female in the same series has a single spine on this margin of each 
femur. Chopard has named this spined condition, variety 
spinosa,^^ but the evidence we have shows the futility of applying 
names to such variants. We also find, from the available series 
from North, Central and South America, that the presence of the 
paired rows of incurved chaetiform hairs on the disto-dorsal 
abdominal segment is correlated, in this species, with the develop- 
ment of the wings, the hairs being absent in short-winged 
individuals, faintly developed in those with a briefly caudate wing 
development, and well developed in those having fully caudate 
wings. 
15 We cannot consider Ncocurtilla Kirby a distinct genus from Gryllotalpa, as 
variation in G. hexadactyla makes its definition on the basis of the spination of 
the dorso-internal margin of the caudal femora impossible. The frequent use 
of the name Curtilla in place of the far older Gryllotalpa as the generic name, 
is reprehensible, as nomenclatural tautonomy is not only a rather desirable 
thing, but has been sanctioned by the International Zoological Commission 
on Nomenclature in the matter of type fixation. 
15 Edge Hill, Penna.; X, 4, 1906; (W. Stone); Icf: Collingdale, Penna.; 
V, 19, 1902, (P. Laurelliere) ; 1 9 : Gladw^m, Penna., VI, 7, 1908; (S. G. 
Dixon); 19 ; Atlanta, Georgia; VIII, 28, 1912; 19 : Excelsior Springs, 
Missouri; 1 9 : Douglas County, Kansas; Icf, 1 9 - 
1’ Tuckerton, New Jersey, IX, 1907, (F. Austin), 1 9 . 
18 Ann. Soc. Entom. France, 1912, p. 401, (1912). 
