41 



natives catch it, and make it bite their warts. This is said to be an 

 infallible cure, and it is possible that the wound caused by the 

 powerful mandibles of the insect, and smeared with the formic acid 

 which many Orthoptera exude from the jaws when angry, with the 

 assistance of a goodly amount of faith, may cause these mysterious 

 growths to disappear. 



Another powerful biter is Saga. The Sagidae are large carnivorous 

 insects, occurring in Southern Europe, Asia Minor, and Southern 

 Africa. They are nowhere common, and the males of some species 

 are so rare that they were said to propagate by parthenogenesis ; only 

 the South African forms are winged. They sit on a solitary thistle, 

 and pounce with a clumsy somersault upon their prey ; their jaws are 

 very strong, and their spiny legs are very powerful. I can personally 

 testify to the power of the legs of even a nymph. Brunner has told 

 me that he was once bitten by one, and it took out a piece of flesh. 

 As they reach a size that is almost gigantic, they must.be the lions 

 and tigers of the Orthoptera world. 



The Decticidae, a group that is so rich in European species, is but 

 poorly represented abroad. One small form occurs in South Africa, 

 and Anabrus sometimes swarms in the Western States of America. 

 A few other genera are found in North America, but rarely. 



The Pseudophyllidas are a large group which are confined to 

 tropical regions ; they are usually of large, sometimes of considerable 

 size, and have powerful jaws. Probably they are partly carnivorous, 

 partly herbivorous. 



The most extensive family is the Phaneropteridae. In Europe we 

 have a fair number of genera and species, chiefly with rudimentary 

 wings. Throughout the tropics there are large numbers of fully- 

 winged species, usually green in colour. Scaphura is black ; Pardo- 

 lata is black, light red, and rich purple. Myr?necophana, again, the 

 well known ant-mimic, is black and white. Steirodon and its allies 

 from tropical America attains a tremendous size. In this group of 

 genera, the pronotum is twisted and curved into great lobed crests. 

 All Phaneropteridae appear to be herbivorous. 



The Conocephalidae are a large group, containing many odd and 

 large insects, often armed with a mass of spines pointing in all direc- 

 tions. Some are carnivorous, but the majority are probably vegetable 

 feeders. 



The Stenopelmatidae are curious creatures, peculiar in possessing 

 compressed, instead of depressed, tarsi. They are powerful, carni- 

 vorous, usually wingless insects, living in holes and caves. Some 

 genera, Dolichopoda from South European caves, Rhaphidiphora from 

 Eastern and Southern Asia, are cave insects, with small bodies and 

 enormous elongated legs, palpi, and antennae. Stenopehnatus from 

 California resembles a mole cricket. Anostostoma from New Zealand 

 is well known on account of the fantastic development of its great 

 mandibles. None of this family chirp. 



Somewhat similar are the Gryllacridae, which possess certain 



