204 



THE AUSTRALIAN MUSEUM MAGAZINE. 



parative description might be of some 

 interest to our readers. 



In the Bismarck Archijielago a num- 

 ber of stems of the prickly ]iahn 

 {Calamus or Daemonorops) are hunched 

 together at one end and allowed to 

 o])en out at the other, forming what 

 will ultimately be, when interlaced, a 

 conical-shaped basket. Vine or cane 

 lashing is used and gives the trap 

 rigidity. The palm stems are so ar- 

 ranged that the hook-like thorns point 

 inwards. A piece of string is attached 

 to the trap, a slab of drift-wood tied at 

 the other end, and a bait placed well 

 inside the basket. To set the trap the 

 native sinks it and places a stone on 

 the string, allowing the float to rise on 

 the surface. The fish readily enters 

 the trap, but on trying to back out or 

 turn, it l)ecomes im])aled on the thorns. 



The trap from British New Guinea is 

 of more solid construction, but the 

 shape and idea is the same. The barbed 

 stems are lashed to cane ribs, and a 

 crossed stick prevents its being rolled 

 over or otherwise displaced 



The frame of the Burmese device is 

 made of bamboo. A stem of about 

 twenty inches, butting on a node or 

 knot, is split longitudinally into seven 

 or eight strips. These rib like divisions 

 are interlaced with rattan, as in the 

 forms already described. Stems of the 

 prickly palm are lashed in position 

 inside the cane, and, baited as before, 

 it is plac€'d in the river with the inouth 

 down-stream, and anchored in place by 

 means of an attached stone. Its posi- 

 tion is indicated by a bamboo pole 

 inserted in the river bank, this pole 

 being connected to the trap by a length 

 of rattan. 



The Yellow Monday Cicada, 



By Anthony Musgrave. 



TOWARDS the end of Oc- 

 tober, when the days 

 are getting longer and 

 hotter, the shrill note of 

 the cicada announces the 

 advent of summer. The 

 cicada whose piercing din 

 is so familiar to Sydneysiders 

 is the Yellow or Green Mon- 

 day Cicada (('//clochila au,s- 

 Iralasiac) though other spe- 

 cies occur in and about the 

 city. 



Cicadas, or as they are 

 more commonly, but 



wrongly, termed locusts, 

 are members of the order Rhynchota, a 

 grou]) of insects which includes bugs, 

 leaf h()])pers, scale insects and ai>hides. 

 All tbese nrv provided with a sucking 

 proboscis, by means of which they are 

 able to pierce the bai'k of plants and 

 suck u]) the juices. The true locusts, 

 or short-horned grasshoppers, belong to 

 an entirely different order, the Orthop- 

 tera, in which are also placed such 



Yellow Monday with wings outspread, showing the strong 

 network of veins. 



[Pilot 0.—&. C. ClMt(0», 



insects as cockroaches, mantids and 

 stick insects. These, on the other hand, 

 ])ossess mouth parts that are used for 

 biting their food, which may consist 

 of leaves, or grass, or other insects, as 

 in the case of the mantids. 



Cicadas are widely spread over the 

 globe, but prefer warm countries. Only 

 one species is recorded from England, 

 where it is by no means common, while 



