THE LARGE GREEN GRASSHOPPER. 81 



a grasshopper, both of which are included in the 

 family Locmtidce, but this belongs to the Oryllidce 

 which is distinguished from the former by the pre- 

 sence in the females of a formidable looking ovi- 

 positor extending from the end of the body. Mr. 

 Tate calls it the " Horsehead " Grasshopper, but I 

 do not see why the title should be applied solely to 

 this species, as all of the tribe have heads much alike ; 

 perhaps the resemblance to a horse's head is more 

 striking in viridissima from its great size. 



I caught a female two or three weeks ago as it sat 

 on the head of a large flower, and brought it home 

 captive. It has been living in a glass globe ever 

 since, and at the present moment is doing a consti- 

 tutional over my writing table ; not, I fear, appre- 

 ciating the honour I ana doing it by giving its history 

 in the pages of Science Gossip ; at any rate, it does 

 not look as if it did, being busily engaged in discus- 

 sing the contents of a cabbage stalk I purposely laid 

 in its way. I did not know at first what food to 

 supply it with, animal or vegetable, until I thought 

 of Mrs. Watney's note above referred to. I put in 

 some grass well moistened, a piece of cooked beef, 

 and, as I knew the latter would not easily be obtained 

 in the creature's own haunts, a couple of houseflies 

 as well. It treated both flies and grass with great 

 unconcern ; but when one of the antennce came in 

 contact with the meat, it went up to it at once and 

 devoured it, holding it between its two front legs. 

 Shortly after I found that one of the flies was gone, 

 and, as it could not have escaped, I concluded the 

 creature had eaten it, so I sat down to watch the 

 fate of the other. Vii-iilissimu had retired to the 



