Insects, etc., Injurious to the Peach. 325 



THE CLIMBING LOCUST. 

 (Leptophyes punctatissima. Bosc.) 



These locusts have been recorded from Minster (1) where they 

 were taken in numbers on peach trees and doing much harm. The 

 Locust id fc or true locusts are distinguished from the grasshoppers or 

 Acrididcc by their long antennae, by the position of the " stridulating " 

 organ, and by the long ovipositor. From the crickets or Gryllidw, 

 they can be told by their four-jointed tarsi, the crickets having either 

 two- or three-jointed feet. 



This green locust has the wings rudimentary, and may be found 

 in the autumn crawling up various trees and shrubs. It was noticed 

 that many were in copula on the peach trees at Minster. 



This species may be identified by the following characters : 

 Colour, yellowish-green, covered with numerous black dots and a 

 few dusky markings ; the pronotum has two lateral pale brown 

 streaks on the disc, bordered externally by bright yellow streaks, and 

 also on the anterior margin. The elytra are as long as the pronotum 

 in the male, but are much shorter in the female. Wings abortive. 

 The ovipositor of the female broad, composed of four sickle-shaped 

 pieces, the two lower being much broader than the upper, com- 

 pressed and crenulated. The green antenna? are very long, with a 

 few dark brown rings. The females are larger than the males ; 

 the former being 18 mm., and the latter 14 mm. in length. Punctatis- 

 sima appears from July onwards until October, the majority occurring 

 in August and September. The young larvse are much paler than the 

 adults, and grow gradually into the mature form. The imago really 

 remains in the pupal stage, no true winged form occurring. At least 

 six moults seem to take place during growth. It is a fairly common 

 insect in this country, especially in the south-east. I have also 

 seen it in numbers in Huntingdonshire and North Wales, and it 

 occurs now and again in plenty on brambles and plum trees as well 

 as wall peaches at Wye. Shaw (2) records it from Hastings, Plum- 

 stead, Herne Bay, Bromley, Polegate, Wimbledon, Dartford and 

 Combe Martin. It is also said to be common at Penmaenmawr. 

 In some parts of Wales I have seen numbers crawling about brambles 

 growing in hedges. Its European distribution is also wide, the 

 following districts being recorded by Wattenwyl (3) : Paris, Fon- 

 tainebleau, Belgium, Brabant, Spa, Zealand, Bornholm, Kissengen, 

 Yoltaggio, Zurich and Schonen. It does not appear to be found 

 in North Germany nor in Austria. 



These locusts only appear now and again in sufficient numbers 



