CHAPTER XX 



THE GREY LOCUST 



I HAVE just witnessed a moving spectacle : the last moult 

 of a locust ; the emergence of the adult from its larval 

 envelope. It was magnificent. I am speaking of the 

 Grey Locust, the colossus among our acridians,* which 

 is often seen among the vines in September when the 

 grapes are gathered. By its size — and it grows as long 

 as a man's finger — it lends itself to observation better 

 than any other of its tribe. 



The larva, disgustingly fat, like a rude sketch of the 

 perfect insect, is commonly of a tender green ; but it is 

 sometimes of a bluish green, a dirty yellow, or a ruddy 

 brown, or even an ashen grey, like the grey of the adult 

 cricket. The corselet is strongly keeled and indented, 

 and is sprinkled with fine white spots. As powerful as 

 in the adult insect, the hind-leg has a corpulent haunch, 

 streaked with red, and a long shin like a two-edged saw. 



The elytra, which in a few days will extend far 



beyond the tip of the abdomen, are at present too small 



triangular wing-like appendages, touching along their 



upper edges, and continuing and emphasising the keel 



or ridge of the corselet. Their free ends stick up like 



the gable of a house. They remind one of the skirts 



• The American usage is to call acridians grasshoppers and 

 Locustidae locusts. The English usage is to call Locustidae grass- 

 hoppers and acridians locusts. The Biblical locust is an acridian. 



900 



