ACRIDIIDAE 



303 



The Pyrgoniorphides ^ is a small tribe of about 120 described 

 species, two of which are found in the south of Europe (Fig. 183, 

 Pyrgomorpha grylloides). The tribe 

 includes a number of large and curious 

 Insects, among them the species of 

 Pliymateus and Petasia, with peculiar (g 

 excrescences on the pronotum and 

 vivid colours on some parts of the 

 body or its appendages, which are 

 apparently common Insects in South 

 Africa. 



The tribe Tryxalides includes a 

 great many species of grasshoppers. 

 In them the front of the head joins 

 the upper part at an acute angle 

 (Figs. 165 and 173). This tribe and the Acridiides are the 

 most numerous in species of the family. To the latter belong 

 most of the migratory locusts of the New World (Fig. 175, 

 Caloptenus spretus). A Spanish species of this tribe, Uupre- 

 pocnemis ploraiis, though provided with well -developed wings, 

 possesses the remarkable habit of seeking shelter by jumping- 

 into the water and attachincr itself below the surface to the 



o 



stems of plants. 



The tribe" Pamphagides ^ includes some 200 species, found 

 chiefly in Africa and the arid regions near the Mediterranean 

 Sea. They are mostly apterous forms, and this circumstance has, 



Fig. 183. Pyrgomor^iha grylloides. 

 South Europe. (Alter Fischer.) 



Fig. 184. Xiphocera {Hoplolopha) asina. S. Africa. (After de Saussure, 



according to de Saussure, exercised a marked influence on the 

 geographical distribution of the species. Although the tribe 

 consists chiefly of apterous forms, several species possess well- 



1 Monograph by Bolivar, Ann. Soc. Esp. xiii. 1884, p. 1, etc. 

 - Monograph, de Saussure, Spicilegia entomologica Genavensia, pt. 2, Geneva, 1887. 



