BRITISH ORTHOPTERA IN THE HOPE MUSEUM, OXFORD. 97 



detailed treatment than would be possible in the present paper. Let 

 me only notice that marvellously beautiful Mantis, Hjiwenopw^ hicornU, 

 a pupa of Avhich lived for some days in my charge. In form and 

 colour it was so perfectly assimilatel to a flower, that I wa3 com^^ 3tely 

 deceived as to its real nature when I saw it first, and, even when I 

 held the inflorescence on Avhich it had taken up its station in my hand, 

 I could not be certain exactly where the insect ended and the flowers 

 began. The very flies are deceived by the likeness, and small Diptera 

 do not hesitate to settle on the body of the mantis, which takes no 

 trouble to catch such insignificant prey, but waits until larger flies 

 come within its grasp. 



On the British Orthoptera in the Hope Museum, Oxford. 



By MALCOLM BUEE, F.Z.S., F.E.S. 



In the Hope collection, in the University Museum, at Oxford, there 

 are a number of old specimens of considerable interest, as many are 

 labelled in the handwriting of the late Professor Westwood, and some 

 in the handwriting of Stephens. Professor Poulton has been kind 

 enough to permit me to examine and rearrange them. The following 

 notes on some of the older specimens may be of interest. 



FoEFicuLAEiA. — Lahiduva riparia. Pall. — One 3' , tAVO ? . " Eng- 

 land." No further information on the labels. They are very probably 

 some of the original specimens taken near Christchurch. Aimolahh 

 viaritiwa, Bon. — "Northumberland. G. Wailes. 1857, end of Sep- 

 tember." These are evidently not some of the original examples taken 

 by Bold at South Shields, but those captured a few years later by 

 George Wailes, when he took a number of specimens for his careful 

 observations of the development of the antennte and abdominal 

 segments, recorded by him in the Zoolof/ist, vol. xvi., p. 5895, in a 

 paper that has to a large extent been overlooked, in spite of its great 

 interest. The insect was taken in heaps of ballast emptied by ships 

 returning from abroad, and it is practically certain that it was an 

 importation. It was first captured in 1856, and was still to be found 

 in 1860. It is unknown whether the species still exists there. Labia 

 minor, Li. — Six 3^ , ten ?. " Snowdon." Forficitla aurictdaria, h. — • 

 Numerous examples. Two are labelled "bnreali^" in what I believe 

 to be Stephens' handwriting ; these are what I have always regarded 

 as the variety forcipata. The difterence between the two is merely a 

 matter of the comparative length of the forceps. F. lesnei, Fin. — One 

 ?. "Kingstone," an old specimen. Aptenjtjida albipennis, Meg. — ■ 

 One pair, old, and in bad condition. There is no locality attached, 

 but the specimens are probably some of the originals taken at Ashford 

 by Westwood. In his handwriting they are labelled " F. centralis, 

 Westw., MS." 



Blattodea. — Ectobia lapponica, L. — Ten <? . " Sunning Hill, 

 Berks." E. livida, Fabr. — " Eudd. N. F." This species has been 

 previously recorded from the New Forest. E. panzeri, Steph. — Several 

 examples. Two males labelled "J. C. Dale, 1865." One specimen, a 

 male, is labelled " Blatta nii/ripes, Mus. Steph., in Notes on habits, 

 B. G. C," but it is too pale in colour to be the true form nitjripes, and 

 does not agree with Stephens' own description. It is the ordinary 

 typical form. There are several specimens considerably darker in 



