NOTES — ORIGINAL AND SELECTED. 1 97 



F. Kirb}', of the Entomological Department, British Mineum, and he is of 

 opinion that they agree with Cyrtacanthus amerkana (Drury, illustrations I, t. 

 46, f. :;), a Southern States of America species, which determination coincides 

 with Mr. H. Gladstone's statement as to the source of the hay. It is extremely 

 unlil<ely that any such insect would effect a permanent lodgment in this country 

 e\en supposing the specimens contained eggs, and that these eggs would hatch 

 unless naturally laid in crevices in the soil by the female locusts— a most gra- 

 tuitous supposition. Miss E. A. Ormerod in the following extract from 

 her article upon " Insect Attacks in 1893," speaks of Iwing insects, hut 

 I have not heard of any being found in the hay soli in Essex. 



"The imported locust appearances, so far as specimens have reached nie alive, 

 would be of no importance, as these proved to lae of a South European species, 

 which is not gregarious, and in its own country, though of large size, is known to 

 do no appreciable damage. From the clim.atic requirements of locusts, and also 

 from recorded experience, there does not appear to be any reason to fear even a 

 possibility of locusts effecting a settlement in this country, but in case of their 

 being introduced dead in very large numbers in fodder, to a greater amount than 

 tiiose from Buenos Ayres, of which specimens were sent me early in February, it 

 would probably be desirable to consider what the effect of the hard, long, spiny 

 shanks of the leaping legs might be on cattle. At present the largest estimate of 

 amount I have received is one locust to each pound of lucerne hay examined, 

 which would equal 2,240 locusts to the ton of fodder, and in another case not less 

 than 200 locusts in one truss of hay. This amount is probably harmless, but in 

 great quantities (although animals will consume locusts in the live state greedily) 

 their presence might cause bad effect in the case of long feeding on much infested 

 fodder." 



It is well known that besides the Great Green Grasshopper (^Locusla 

 viridissirtKi), often mistaken for a foreign locust by newspaper writers, two species 

 of true migratory locusts have been occasionally noticed in Essex — viz., Pachytylus 

 migratorhis and P. 'cinerascens — but these are far too rare to do any damage to 

 agricultural crops, and are probably only sporadic immigrants. The species under 

 consideration {Cyrtacanthus amerkana') is not known as being specially destruc- 

 tive ; if the exportation of hay to England should spread to North America, far 

 more risk of danger would arise from the possible importation of the terribly de- 

 structive " Rocky Mountain Locust " {Caloptenns sprelns'), but whether this would 

 ever breed in our country, even if introduced in a living state, is an exceedingly 

 doubtful point. WlLLIAM COLE. 



NOTES— ORIGINAL AND SELECTED. 



Otters in Essex. — In continuation of the records of the capture of these 

 interesting animals, we may note the following : — 



Southminster. " A fine male' otter was killed on Sunday morning, October 

 29th, at the Hurdles, on North Wick Farm, through which an irregular brook or 

 watercourse, varying from twenty to thirty feet in width, passes. Thomas 

 Wright, a young labourer, of Asheldham, was ' eeling.' and, catching sight 

 of the creature sitting on the bank, he pursued it and struck it on the back with 

 his eel spear, the blow breaking the animal's vertebrae. It was 3 ft. 1 1 in. long, and 

 weighed 22J lbs. Mr. Alderton, taxidermist, of North Street, has it in hand for 

 preservation for Mr. W. A. Hurrell. The old men of the district cannot 

 remember an otter having been seen in the Dengie Hundred before. It is 



