February 1S93.] 



PSYCHE. 



401 



A MELANISTIC LOCUST. 



BY A. P. MORSE, WELLESLEY, MASS. 



In the latter part of July, 1S92, I had 

 the good fortune to stumble upon a 

 thriving settlement of that elegant locust 

 Paroxya atlantica Scudd. in the near 

 vicinity of Cambridge, namely, on the 

 bank of Charles River at Faneuil station. 

 This find was unexpected from the fact 

 that this species is a southern locust 

 and, I believe, has been previously 

 taken in New England only in the 

 southernmost portions. Several weeks 

 later I took one male in a meadow at 

 Newtonville, at quite a distance from 

 the river. These two localities are the 

 only places in which I have met with 

 this species north of Connecticut, 

 where I have taken it at Niantic in a 

 situation similar to that at Faneuil, and 

 at Stamford in the long sedge of bushy 

 pasture meadows, at an elevation con- 

 siderably above tide-water. 



At Faneuil the first specimen taken, 

 a female, was captured while sweeping 

 over some weeds at the edge of the salt- 

 marsh in search of other Acrididae. and 

 search being made, a number of speci- 

 mens, mostly males, were secured. 

 These were found to be most plentiful 

 on a species of Spartina, or cord-grass, 

 along some of the ditches and tidal run- 

 ways, and while quite active were not 

 difficult to capture, usually trying to 

 escape observation by sidling around 

 the stout grass-stems in preference to 

 flight, which was resorted to only when 

 alarmed. 



Among those secured on this occasion 

 was one male which presented a 

 marked contrast to the others in being 

 deep greenish-black in color, with a 

 peculiar oily lustre which became shin- 

 ing on the smoother portions of the 

 body, particularly on the sides of the 

 pronotum, and the thoracic and abdomi- 

 nal sterna. A fuller description is 

 appended. 



At a second visit a few days later 

 three more black males were secured, 

 and also two female nymphs as deeply 

 colored as the adult males. No black 

 adult females were taken, though 

 several secured at this time and at a 

 third visit were extremely dark in 

 coloring. 



The dark, heavy-bodied females, 

 which seemed to prefer remaining on 

 or near the rubbish of dead stalks and 

 weeds covering the ground, were not 

 noticeable objects ; but the more active, 

 black males were quite conspicuous 

 against the green background of the 

 higher zone of growing vegetation 

 which they frequented. 



Paroxya atlantica Scudd. Melanistic male. 

 Description of fresh specimen, taken at 

 Faneuil, Mass., July 22, 1892. 



Head, thorax and abdomen deep greenish 

 black. Tegmina translucent, brownish fus- 

 cous, with brownish- to greenish-black reins 

 and venules. Wings transparent greenish, 

 the veins and venules dark except in posterior 

 third of anal field, darkest in anterior and 

 axillary fields. 



