55 



bulkier insect than P. riridissima, but its alar organs are scarcely so 

 •well developed. Moreover, the elytra are much spotted with dark 

 brown. So there should be no difficulty in distinguishing the two 

 species. 



There now remain three species of the genus Metrioptera, two of 

 which are somewhat alike in appearance. 



Pholidoptera griseoaptera", De Geer, [ = Thaumotrizon cinereus, 

 Gmel.] . This, as well as the remaining four Locustids, belongs to 

 the Decticidte, a family containing some 150 species. P. fpiseo- 

 aptera is almost without a vestige of organs of flight in the 

 female, while in the male but small remnants remain, these being 

 employed as musical organs. Colouring is in general yellowish- 

 brown, speckled and mottled with darker brown ; the under-surface 

 is bright yellow, and the alar remnants have a yellowish tinge. 

 The shining ovipositor takes on a ruddy tint towards the tip. In 

 captivity Burr once fed the species on lettuce. No doubt the diet of 

 these grasshoppers is usually a vegetable one, but they are not 

 averse to animal food also. Introduced into a cage with pupfe of 

 the painted lady butterfly, the latter were devoured. When they 

 visit "sugar," as they do, it may be as much for the moths they 

 capture as for the sugar itself. 



P. (jrifn'oajitera is common throughout northern and central 

 Europe. In England it has been recorded from : — Cornwall, Devon, 

 Dorset, Somerset, Gloucestershire, Herefordshire, Hants, Isle of 

 Wight, Surrey, Sussex, Berks, Bucks, Bedfordshire, Middlesex, 

 Herts, Kent, Suffolk, Norfolk, and Lincolnshire. In Wales, 

 Glamorganshire, and Monmouthshire, are somewhat doubtfully 

 indicated, while there are no records for Scotland or Ireland. Burr 

 considers this a common species, but I doubt if it is so common as 

 he thinks ; personally, I have met with it only in the New Forest. 



Metrioptera albopunctata, Goeze [= Platydeis (jruea, Fabr.] , 

 occurs practically throughout Europe, but there are not many 

 British localities, and all those recorded are near the sea except one 

 for Derbyshire (G. Pullen, /7(/^ Rev. F. C. R. Jourdain). It seems 

 to like the rough herbage on a cliff-side, and it has been noted from 

 chalk, clay and greensand formations. It is an active insect, and in 

 such situations is not always easily captured. Other districts are: 

 —Cornwall (Bracken); Dorset (W. J. L.) ; Hants (W. J. L.) ; 

 Devon (F. W. Edwards) ; Isle of Wight (Porrittj ; Portland (C. W. 

 Dale); Sussex (Morley); Kent (Burr). In colour it is brown, some- 

 what variegated with paler spots on the elytra. It is sometimes 

 tinged with red. Its larger size and much more ample organs of 

 flight will readily distinguish it from th3 other two British species 

 of the genus. It has been met with at " sugar." Burr says (1896) 

 he has never heard it chirp. 



Metrioptera brachyptera, Linn., is common in central and 

 northern Europe, but its range does not extend to the south. In 



* Both sexes are figured in " Entomologist," vol. xxxii., 1899, p. 289. 



