300 'IHE INSECT WORLD. 



the warts to dry up and disappear. It is for this reason they hav( 

 given them the name of Wart-bit or Wart-biter." 



The Phancropterce and the Copiphores are exotic Locusts. Th( 

 Ephippigens are small species whose thorax, which is very convex 

 resembles a saddle. 



One often meets in the environs of Paris the Vine Ephippige 

 {Ephippigera vitiwn), which is greenish, with four brown stripes on it 

 head. In this species the wing cases, or elytra, are almost obsolett 

 and the wings are reduced to mere arched scales, whose frictio 

 produces a stridulation or screeching noise. The females are pre 

 vided with a similar apparatus, so that they perform duets.* 



The genus Gryllacris resembles the crickets. It contains tli 

 Anostostomce of New Holland, which are said to be destitute of wing 

 even in the perfect state. 



We arrive now at the redoubtable tribe of Acridiuin, or Locus 

 whose fearful ravages are so well known. 



These are, among the Orthoptera, the best adapted for jumpin 

 The thigh and the leg, folded together when at rest, are stretched o 

 suddenly under the action of very powerful muscles. The body, re: 

 ing then on the tarsi and on the flexible spines of the legs, is .shot in 

 the air to a great height. They fly very well, but the power of wal 

 ing and running is denied to them, as it is also to the other Saltaion 

 The females have no ovipositor. This peculiarity, and the formati( 

 of their antenna, which are very short, distinguish the locusts frc 

 the grasshoppers. 



The males, as we have already said, make a shrill stridulation 

 rubbing their thighs over their elytra. There is never more than o 

 thigh in motion at a time ; the insect using the right and the left 

 turns. The sound is made stronger by a sort of drum filled with 

 and covered with a very thin skin, which is found on each side of 

 body, at the base of the abdomen. The locust's song is less mo: 

 tonous than that of the grasshopper. It is capable of much variatiol 

 it is a noise just like that of a rattle, but with sounds which vary v«| 

 much, according to the species. 



They move about by day, frequent dry places, and are vi| 

 fond of sitting on the grass in the sun. Certain species, wh? 

 inhabit the warm regions of the south, move their legs with scare 

 any noise ; it being only perceptible to a very fine ear. 



* The species of genus Saga sometimes reach extraordinary dimensions. Tl 

 in 1863, there was found in Syria, after a shower of ordinary locusts, a specimei 

 the Saga which was three inches and a quarter long. It was presented to 

 :j<Iuseum of Natural History of Paris, by M. L. Delair. 





