SYNOPSIS OF THK ORTHOPTERA OF WESTERN EUROPE. 317 



first brood was still alive on July oth, when I left the country, having 

 enjoyed herself in the semi-captivity of the cage for six weeks. 

 However, on my return on July 10th, I found that she had died during 

 my absence. During the latter part of her existence she has taken no 

 notice of me as I watched her, often from the distance of a foot or so only, 

 feeding or ovipositing in the sunshine. The first larvae appeared on June 

 25th, and, as the plant on which they were afforded no sustenance, I 

 removed them to garden carrot and fennel. By July 15th these were 

 mostly full-fed, some, indeed, having already pupated. During tbe 

 first week in August the imagines began to emerge, and I noticed two 

 or three females ovipositing, this time on fennel, which was just coming 

 into flower, on August 8th. I have already some 150 pup* from these 

 o-va, but as the larvae were fed up in a greenhouse, the dates of their 

 various stages would be no guide to their habits under natural condi- 

 tions in our climate. In spite of the unwontedly fine and warm April 

 which we enjoyed in the south of England this year, none of my 

 P. asteria>i emerged until May 22nd, when the first, a male, made its 

 appearance. On May 25th, a female came out, and another on the 27th. 

 These were, unfortunately, all that emerged of my original ten pupa3, 

 and, as the species seems to be an extraordinarily hardy one, I have no 

 doubt that the untimely demise of the rest was due to some gross error 

 of judgment on my part. Both the females were remarkably fine 

 specimens, the first measuring no less than i^ inches across the 

 expanded wings, and the second ^ of an inch less. In spite of the 

 inclement weather during Whitsun week the male paired with the 

 first female before the end of the month, and, on June 5th, I noticed 

 the latter ovipositing on a plant of wild chervil, which happened to be 

 in full flower. The habits of /'. astcrias whilst laying its eggs are 

 remarkably like those of /'. marhaon, the abdomen is curled round till 

 it describes a semicircle, and three or four ova, seldom more or less, are 

 deposited separately, then the insect, as though exhausted for the 

 moment, flies off to feed on some neighbouring flower-head, returning 

 in a few minutes to recommence its task. Like most of the Papilio- 

 nids I have observed, it generally keeps its wings fluttering while 

 feeding. Oviposition continued busily until the 13th, and spasmodi- 

 cally even after that date. Though there were some large plants of 

 fennel growing close by (Holland says that fennel is a favourite food- 

 plant of this species in the south of the U.S.A.), all the eggs were laid 

 upon wild chervil. I think that this must have been due to some 

 innate fondness of P. asterias for ovipositing on plants when in flower, 

 as in August, when the fennel was flowering, the second brood laid 

 freely enough on it. 



Synopsis of the Orthoptera of Western Europe. 



By MALCOLM BUER, B.A., F.L.K., F.Z.S., F.E.S. 



[Continued from p. 231). 



Division II : Acridiodea. 



This large division includes the common grasshoppers of our fields 



and meadows, besides a large number of strange and often highly 



specialised forms, together with the various species of migratory locust, 



which become pests from time to time in different parts of the world. The 



division is characterised by the comparatively short antennfv, three- 



