128 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY, Vol. VIII. 
and sandy soil being avoided, and land which has been ploughed up, and the lee side 
of banks, where the soil has accumulated, are mostly selected. The eggs are piled in 
a small cylindrical hoie, parallel to its sides, and are attached to one another by 
some cohesive siccable substance. Filling the mouth of the hole is a plug, consisting 
of a soft fibrous substance, and below it the eggs, arranged as described, averaging 70 
in each hole, The holes are from 1°5 to 2 inches in depth, and in a good locality four 
might be found inaspan. They are not easily visible, but when one is found, others 
are generally near it. Brushing off the loose dust and digging here and there faci- 
litates search. 
“The eggs themselves are of a dirty ochre colour, in length *2 to -8, and in diameter 
*05 to 08 of an inch, rounded in section, with a slight curve, and tapering very 
slightly towards the rounded ends. . . When fresh, the contents of the eggs are of 
a dirty orange colour, liquid but slightly viscous, with a somewhat acrid taste. The 
envelope apparently consists of two layers, the outer one coloured and tough, and the 
inner one white and fragile. When broken, the eggs give off an odour like a broken 
toot. As the eggs approach maturity, they assume a distinctly greenish hue, and the 
young locust bursts the shell down the middle on issuing into life. I experimented 
on some eggs by placing them in damp and very damp soil, but the water did not 
affect the hatching. 
“The young locusts appeared in myriads in my district (Chiplun taluka) between 
Ist and 20th Auecust, so that the period the eggs required to hatch was a little more 
than two months, say seventy days. 
“ The young locusts vary somewhat in colour, most being a dullish light green, some 
light green, but hardly verdant, and a few almost white and only tinged with green. 
A few minutes after hatching they are strong enough to jump .. . . The 
antennee are darksome and short, whilst on the thigh-cases small black spots, and on 
the upper side of the abdomen a faint black line, are just visible. ; 
“ The young locusts generally cast their slough for the first time about 15 days 
after birth, and in their new skin the black line and spots become darker and the green 
colour of a deeper hue. They now leave the grass land and seek the shelter of the 
crops, and are in length -8 of an inch. 
“© After another interval of 15 days they again cast their slough and enter on the 
third stage. In this the black line becomes very intense, as also do the spots, which 
lengthen and form the so-called ‘ Koranic verses —they do show a certain similitude to 
some letters of the Arabic alphabet. They arenow 1-2 of aninch in length. 
“They enter the 4th stage by casting their slough after another 15 days, ard 
assume, including the antenne, a yellow colour, which, towards the end of the stage, 
becomes pinkish-grey. The black line and the ‘ Koranic verses ’ are now very intense 
in colour, and the insect attains the length of 1-6 of an inch. 
“ A creat transformation is witnessed on entry into the 5th stage after 15 more 
days. The female is now two inches long, whilst the male is somewhat less. The 
colour of the head, prothorax, and abdomen is a grey or drab, speckled on the prothorax, 
and darker along the upper side of the abdomen. The ringed antennz are deep 
yellow, the eyes chestnut and striated, whilst for the first time appears an oblong 
mark under each eye, indigo-green in colour, and bordered on each side by yellow. 
The Arabic letters have now disappeared, whilst the spots on the thigh-cases are 
