GRASSHOPPERS — GURNEY AND BROOKS 9 



It is probable that the green labels are not original ones, but later 

 ones written by Saussure, since the generic name Pezotettix is not 

 used. The history of Saussure's travels suggests that the specimens 

 seen are part of the original series studied by Saussure. Burr's 

 obituary of Saussure (Ent. Record, vol. 17, pp. 167-170, 1905) records 

 Saussure's visit to the New World, and mentions an article published 

 by him about the volcano of Orizaba in 1858. This volcano is adja- 

 cent to C6rdoba (spelling now usually followed). Saussure (1870, 

 p. 2) referred to Fr. Sumichrast (one of the collectors of mexicanus 

 types) as his old aide and travel companion. The abbreviation "t. c." 

 is Spanish for "tierra caliente" (warm region), as indicated by Hebard 

 (1932a, p. 281). However, the specimens may have been taken 

 under temperate conditions, as C6rdoba, about 50 to 60 miles west 

 of Veracruz, in the State of Veracruz, is at the base of Mount Orizaba. 

 The wide variety of zonal conditions encountered when one descends 

 from Mount Orizaba to Cordoba is mentioned by Goldman (1951, 

 p. 279). Also, Sumichrast, and apparently Saussure too, collected 

 extensively at nearby Mirador (see Goldman, p. 276), and, depend- 

 ing on the detail with which specimens were labeled, some of the 

 original mexicanus series may have originated there. Five males 

 taken at La Cumbre, near C6rdoba, at an elevation of 6,000 feet, 

 by Dr. H. R. Roberts in 1936, agree perfectly with the lectotype. 



Uvarov (1925, p. 298) placed selectus in synonymy. A male from 

 Ocotldn, Oaxaca, which is near the type locality of selectus, has been 

 examined by us and is considered typical of mexicanus. 



Two specimens, male and female (ANSP), from "littoral du Mexi- 

 que," labeled as "Platyph. mexicanus Sauss,," apparently by Saussure, 

 and as paratypes of Platyphymus mexicana Saussure by Hebard, are 

 really Melanoplus mexicanus. The incorrect name labels may have 

 been prepared accidentally by Saussure; at any rate Platyphyma 

 mexicanum, described by Brunner in 1861, is a very different insect 

 with short elliptical tegmina. Hebard (1932a, p. 281) treated mexi- 

 canum Brunner as a synonym of Pedies virescens Saussure. The two 

 specimens noted probably are the "paratypes" mentioned under 

 Melanoplus mexicanus by Hebard (1928, p. 279), since they are stand- 

 ing imder M. mexicanus in the Philadelphia collection. Walker's 

 Caloptenus mexicanus (1870, p. 682) was placed in the synonymy 

 of Platyphyma mexicanum Brunner (there called Paradichroplus 

 mexicanus) by Scudder (1897b, p. 19). 



The early literature dealing with Melanoplus mexicanus is scanty. 

 Thomas (1873, p. 222) merely listed it (as Pezotettix mexicana) from 

 Mexico, and he paraphrased Saussure's description. Bruner (1908, 

 p. 301) stated that he saw specimens of M. devastator which were 

 labeled, probably by Saussure, as Pezotettix mexicana with a query. 



