IN THK CAUCASUS AGAIN. 255 



up in connection with tiai« desert fauna; in Stauronotns there is a 

 muddle; apparently we have a choice of about half a dozen species, 

 St. iiiarnccaniis, Thunb., St. hrccicollis, Eversm., St. kraiissi, Adel., St. 

 iinatoliriis, Kr., and St. albironiis;, Kr.; which is which is hard to say. 

 I appealed to Boris Petrovich Uvaroft" for his opinion; his reply is 

 encouraging, ■' I see no possibility of determining species of this genus 

 until it has been thoroughly revised. I aui already collecting material 

 for this, and shall look to you to help me in the matter." If ho clears 

 up this muddle, and the worse one of I'oecUiinnn, he will do valuable 

 work. 



In the green herbage in the irrigated district, fjinista riridissima, 

 L., is abundant, but I did not find L. cainUtta on the plains. But one 

 interesting creature occurs in the high herbage and stridulates l)y day, 

 with a voice not at all unlike that of L. riiidissinni. 1 took four or 

 live males, but unfortunately no females. I regarded it at first as a 

 new species of Lonista, a kind of reduced L. caiitaiis, and it was only a 

 month later that I noticed that it is a Decticid. I sent one to B. P. 

 Uvaroff, who made the same obvious mistake at first glance, taking it 

 to be an altogether remarkable new species of Locusta. It is, however, 

 a Decticid in spite of its outward appearance. It will be described in 

 due course, and will very probably require a new genus. 



Just below the homestead there is a wild field where the buffalos 

 graze and wallow in the muddy pools ; it is a thorns paradise ; Nature's 

 own " barbed- wire entanglements" occur in the form of dense and 

 impenetrable thickets of i'alinnis aufitralis, JUiaiiinns iKdlassii, (j-ranata 

 pimiciiiii, various milder forms of lliibiis, and, worst of all, Kleaipnis 

 anfjHstifiilia, with long thorns like crucible steel. There, in the after- 

 noon before my departure, 1 heard an unfamiliar buzz, unlike that of 

 DecticKs, and distinct from that of Ldcii.std, yet evidently that of a power- 

 ful Locustid. Instead of a prolonged chirp on one note, it is a double note, 

 i.e., an introductory "chip," followed at once by a longer buzzz-zz-zz- 

 zz-zz. The musician was very timid, and it required the utmost patience 

 to stalk him down. A.t last I saw one, and could scarcely believe 

 my eyes; either they or my ears were deceiving me ; surely this was 

 Locitnta riridi.ssiiiia. In this case my eyes were deceiving me; I noticed 

 slight differences in habits which are significant ; this creature was 

 sitting head upwards, and after a moment's silence, broke out again 

 into song, buzzz-zzzz-zz-zz, but Locusta prefers to sit head down- 

 wards. Slowly and cautiously I raised my net and struck. The 

 insect disappeared, while I was held a helpless prisoner. Hhaninns 

 pallassii held my arms; Granata juinicinn held m\- hat; J-.'lcaipnis 

 anf/iisti/'olia had seized my net ; and I'alinnis aiistralis was gripping 

 my legs. It took me a long time to release myself, and I then set to 

 work and devoted three consecutive hours to catching a specimen of 

 this puzzling creature; patience was rewarded and I took one male; 

 luck brought me across the path of a female who had lost both her 

 hind legs ; I took advantage of her helplessness and committed the 

 atrocity of throwing her at once into the fumes of poison gas. It 

 required quite a close inspection to see that these specimens were not 

 Lorasta : the pronotum is more compressed, with belter marked edges; 

 the elytra are narrower, and the stridulating portion a little different, 

 and the veins belter marked ; the ovipositor of the female has a 

 characteristic downwards bend ; and then under the first tarsal seg- 



