ORYSSUS ORYZA. 



359 



of the modes by which this chirping noise is pro- 

 duced, and which it will therefore be unnecessary to 

 repeat in the present article. The tarsi vary, in the 

 number of the joints, from three to five ; generally 

 speaking, the body is long, and often much com- 

 pressed. 



The nature of the metamorphoses of these insects 

 is also another great character by which they are 

 distinguished from the coleoptera, the larva? and 

 pupas differing only from the imago, either by entirely 

 wanting, or having only rudiments of wings. The 

 larva and pupa of the great green grasshopper are 

 represented in vol. ii, page 839, figs. 30 and 31. In 

 these states the insect is as active and as voracious 

 as in that of the imago. 



If we had cause, in treating of the hymenoptera, 

 to admire the admirable displays of instinct which 

 they afforded us, we are here compelled To admit 

 that the present order cannot bear anything like a 

 comparison in the means of attracting our attention. 

 They, however, amply perform their work in the 

 great labours of the economy of nature, for they are 

 amongst the most voracious of the insect tribes. The 

 cockroach, the mantis, and the locust, are too well 

 known in this respect to require more than the 

 insertion of their names to bring before us the great 

 and occasionally overwhelming ravages which they 

 commit. Their food, for the most part, consists of 

 vegetable substances, and which, being less service- 

 able for the purposes of animalisation than animal 

 matters, it is necessary that a much greater quantity 

 of food should be taken, in proportion to the size of 

 the insects, than is consumed by the predaceous 

 species which feed on other insects, or upon carrion. 

 Hence, from their great size, the Orthoptera may be 

 regarded as the most pre-eminently herbivorous of 

 the insect tribes, and their voracity is excessive. 

 We need only refer to our article LOCUST for a 

 confirmation of this statement, whilst the article 

 COCK- ROACH furnishes sufficient proof of the in-door 

 devastation which the insects of this order are capable 

 of performing. The internal anatomy of this order 

 is organised in a manner adapted to their herbivorous 

 qualities. The alimentary canal is greatly elongated, 

 and divided into several chambers or stomachs ; four 

 of these have been attributed to the mole-cricket, 

 whose internal structure has been long ago investi- 

 gated, and more recently by Dr. Kidd, of Oxford. 

 From this circumstance it has been supposed that 

 the Orthoptera, analogous to the ruminating qua- 

 drupeds, had the power of bringing back into the 

 mouth aliments which had already passed into the 

 stomach. According to M. Marcel de Serres, these 

 chambers are not in fact stomachs, but merely contain 

 a salivary and biliary fluid, which the animal often 

 disgorges when seized. The internal structure of the 

 larva does not differ from that of the imago. 



All the known species of this order are terrestrial. 

 Stoll has indeed represented an extraordinary insect, 

 belonging to the order, as an aquatic species, but 

 there is no confirmation of this circumstance. 



The species found in our part of the world deposit 

 their eggs but once in the year, which takes place at 

 the end of the summer, when they have assumed the 

 perfect winged state. They perish at the approach 

 of winter, and the species are perpetuated by the eggs 

 remaining unhatched, during the winter, in the earth 

 where they were deposited, the larvse coming forth 

 in the following spring 1 . 



It is difficult to preserve the insects of this order, 

 without considerable attention, in our collections, the 

 body, being moist and fatty, attracting destructive 

 insects, such as the Anthrenus, Dermestes, &c. It is on 

 this account that some of the species, which are 

 natives of Africa, are eaten by the negroes, who have 

 thence obtained the name of Acridophagi. 



The order, excluding the earwigs (order Dermap- 

 tern, Leach, see EARWIG), and including the cock- 

 roaches (which Dr. Leach separated as an order 

 under the name of Dictywptcra), is divisible as 

 follows : 



Section A. CURSORIA. Hind legs formed for 

 running or walking ; wings and wing-covers 

 generally horizontal ; females not provided 

 with a horny exserted ovipositor. 

 Fam. 1. Blattidce. Tarsi five-jointed ; head hidden 

 beneath the shield of the thorax ; body flat- 

 tened and oval, or rounded. (Cock-roaches). 



2. Mantidce. Tarsi five-jointed ; head exposed ; 



body long, and generally narrow; fore legs 

 raptorial. (Preying mantis.) 



3. PhasmidcE. Tarsi five-jointed ; head exposed ; 



body long, and generally narrow ; fore legs 

 not raptorial. (Spectre insects.) 

 Section B. SALTATORIA. Hind legs formed for 

 leaping ; wings and wing-covers generally 

 deflexed at the sides ; females generally pro- 

 vided with an exserted horny ovipositor. 



4. Achetid<e. Antennae very long ; wings and 



wing-covers horizontal ; tarsi three-jointed. 

 (Crickets). 



5. Gryllida;. Antennse very long ; wings and 



wing-covers deflexed ; tarsi four-jointed ; ovi- 

 positor long, sword-shaped. (Grasshoppers, 

 with long antennae.) 



6. Locustidce. Antennae short; wings and wing- 



covers deflexed; ovipositor short. (Locusts 

 and grasshoppers, with short antennae.) 



The species which we have selected to illustrate 

 this order in our plate of ORTHOPTEROUS INSECTS 

 are, 1st, Metallyticus splendens (Westwood), from 

 Malabar, a remarkable insect, being the only species 

 of the order exhibiting metallic colours, and belonging 

 to the family Mantidce ; 2nd, Prisopus (Latreille ; 

 horridus, Westwood), a singular species of spectre 

 insects (Phasmidce'), from Mexico ; Schizodactylus 

 monstros2is, from India, belonging to the Achetidae ; 

 4th, Scaphura Kirbii (Westwood), from Brazil, be- 

 longing to the GryllidtE ; and, 5th, Tripetalocera 

 ferruginea (Westwood), a remarkable insect, from 

 Malabar. 



ORYSSUS (Latreille). A very peculiar genus of 

 hymenopterous insects, belonging to the section 

 Securifera, and family Siricidee, having the abdomen 

 sessile, the antennae inserted near the mouth, the 

 maxillary palpi long, and the ovipositor slender, spiral, 

 and internal, in which respect the genus approaches 

 the Cynipidce. There are two European species, 

 which are found upon trees, but they are of very rare- 

 occurrence, and of great agility. The description of 

 a North American species is given in the last number 

 of the Zoological Journal. 



ORYZA (Linnaeus). A genus of useful cereals, 

 belonging to the natural order GraminecE. It is the 

 Eruz of the Arabians, and the rice of English au- 

 thors. In warm climates it is the most valuable 

 necessary of human life, and perhaps it is not beyond 

 the truth to assert, that as great a number of human 



