412 [October, 



1. — Mecostethus grossus, Linne. 



Gryllus {Locusta) grossus, Linne, Syst. Nat., i, p. 702 {nee Berken- 



liout, nee Stephens) ; Eabr., Ent. Syst., ii, p. 61. 

 Acrydium grossum, Latr., Hist. Nat. Crust, et Ins., xii, p. 155. 

 CEdipoda grossa, Serv., Orth., p. 741. 

 Gomphocerus grossus, Burm., Handb. der Ent., ii, p. 651. 

 Mecostethus grossus, Eieb., Synops. Lotos, iii, p. 99 ; Brunner, Prod. 



der Eur. Orth., p. 94, fig. 24. 

 Stetheophyma grossum, Fischer, Orth. Europ., p. 357, tab. xvi, figs. 3, 



3a ; A. White, Brit. Mus! List, xvii, p. 16. 

 Gryllus {Locusta) Havip>es, Grmelin, Syst. Nat. Linne, ed. xiii, torn, i, 



part iv, p. 2088, No. 230 ; Donovan, Nat. Hist. Brit. Ins., xii, 



p. 87, tab. 391. 

 Locusta Jlavipes, Steph., Illust. Brit. Ent. Mandib., vi, p. 21. 

 Gryllus germanicus, Stoll, Pepres., tab. xxiii b, fig. 89. 

 Acridium rubripes, De Geer, Mem., iii, p. 477, tab. xxii, fig. 4. 



Head with the vertex produced triangularly and thickly margined, foveolse 

 almost absent, or basal and triangular. Antennae filiform, longer comparatively in 

 $ than in ? . Pronotum with the median ridge strongly marked and somewhat 

 raised ; transverse furrow rather anterior to the middle, strongly rugose behind that ; 

 posterior margin bluntly rounded. Elytra clear with smoky apices, veins ferrugi- 

 nous, radial veins fuscous towards the base, mediastinal area extending beyond the 

 middle of the elytra, and together with the scapular area is bright yellow ; discoidal 

 area with an accessory vein nearer the ulnar than the radial veins. Wings hyaline, 

 smoky towards the apex. Posterior femora of a rosy-red beneath, with a black 

 streak (sometimes divided into two parts) internally, knees black. Posterior tibise 

 yellowish, spines black. Yalves of the ovipositor $ elongate, with several small 

 crenulations above. Length, $ , 13 — 23 mm. ; ? , 26 — 33 mm. 



In the British Museum Collection there are several British examples of this 

 species labelled Jlavipes, Gruel., and there are also some in the Dublin Natural 

 History Museum ; these are all grossus, L., and I think the mistake about the name 

 must have arisen through Donovan giving Gmelin's name to this species, of which he 

 gives a good figure. The name in Gmelin's Syst. Nat. Linne, ed. xiii, is applied to 

 an insect of Leske's Museum, and Gmelin copies Zschach's description in Karsten's 

 " Museum Leskeanum," p. 49, No. 50. Donovan makes no mention of grossus, L., 

 but Stephens, Mandib., vi, includes both grossa, L., and flavipes, Gmel., and he says 

 of grossa, " Berkenhout gives this as British, but I presume improperly, as I have 

 never seen an indigenous example." Berkenhout's description, however (Synopsis 

 Nat. Hist. Gt. Brit, and Ireland, i, p. 112, No. 7), seems to refer to some species of 

 the genus Stenobothrus. Stephens says of flavipes that it is not uncommon in 

 marshes in this country, but supposes, from the silence of continental authors, that 

 it is peculiar to Britain. I have two modern records of the capture of this fine 

 species : one, a specimen kindly given me by Mr. McLachlan, was taken in the fens 

 of Norfolk a few years since ; and Mr. H. N. Ridley took one on the road between 

 Glencar and Waterville in Co. Kerry : he recorded it in the Ent. Mo. Mag., vol. xx, 



