86 ORTHOPTERA. 



our fields are quite harmless, and are generally of a green, brown, 

 or reddish colour, and about an inch long ; they belong to the 

 genus lihammatocerus, Fisch., and to some allied genera. The 

 genus Truxalis, Fabr., includes several species which inhabit 

 Africa and the shores of the Mediterranean. They are remark- 

 able for the peculiar shape of the head and antennte, which is not 

 very easy to describe, but which will be seen at a glance on a 

 reference to our figure of T. Nasida, Linn., the commonest species. 

 It is a green insect, with longitudinal reddish stripes on the head 

 and body, and transparent hind wings. The true locusts are 

 insects of large size, with rather narrow tegmina, generally of a 

 brown colour, varied with darker, and ample brightly-coloured hind 

 wings, generally more or less transparent, and frequently marked 

 with numerous angular dusky spots. Different species of locusts, 

 about five inches in expanse of wing, often cause great destruction 

 in various parts of Africa, Asia, and even in Southern and Eastern 

 Europe ; but in general they only appear in England singly, as 

 rare and occasional visitors ; though, when the greater part of 

 Europe was overrun by them in the middle of the last century, a 

 sufficient number reached England to cause considerable damage 

 in various places. Famine and plague have often followed their 

 ravages in more southern countries. Several species of Locusta and 

 Fachytylus are met with in England occasioually , which have brown 

 fore wings and green or yellow hind wings. The Eocky Mountain 

 Locust (Caloptenus Spretus, Thomas), which sometimes appears 

 in annihilating swarms in the United States, is much smaller 

 than the destructive European species, expanding rather less than 

 two inches. It is a reddish-brown insect, with brown spots, 

 and the hind wings are transparent. Some of the great South 

 American locusts (Acridotheres Dux, Drury, and some allied si^ecies) 

 are among the largest insects known. They are very bulky, their 

 bodies being nearly four inches in length, and the wings sometimes 

 measure nearly a foot in expanse. In A. Dux the greater }iart 

 of the body is green, the legs being varied with red, and the hind 

 tibiaj very spiny ; the Avings are red, speckled with dusky arrow- 

 headed spots. Fortunately, however, these very large sj)ecies are 

 not nearly so destructive as the smaller ones, especially in propor- 

 tion to their si.'je. Many species of this family are of great 

 beauty, very different indeed from the dingy cockroaches and 

 crickets. It would be difficult to find a more beautiful insect than 

 Tiiaiiacris AUApes, Ue Geer, a native of British Guiana. It measures 



