34 



lower furrow beneath the posterior femora is reddish purple ; it is 

 taken not infrequently at Covent Garden, imported in vegetables 

 from Southern Europe, where it is common. An allied species is 

 Schistocerca peregritia (Oliv.), the sole European representative of the 

 genus. It is more slightly built than A. <£gyptiu?n and much paler in 

 colour, with light stripes and markings, and varies from pale brown 

 to yellow. It is notorious for the damage which it causes in Algeria 

 and North-Western India, but has only occurred in England once. 

 In 1869 the south eastern counties were visited in some numbers, 

 but I am not aware that it has occurred since. In this connection 

 I may mention that Schistocerca paratiense, Burm., has occurred in this 

 country, though not alive. It is an Argentine species. Large 

 numbers are often found crushed in lucerne or in " alfaefa " imported 

 from Buenos Ayres, and seem to disagree with the horses that eat them. 

 This is curious, as in North West India S. peregrina is regular fodder for 

 horses and cattle, when prepared in a certain way. The two remaining 

 locusts that visit our shores are to be referred to the QEdipodidse. 

 These are Pachytylus migratorius (L.), and P. danicus (L.). In spite of 

 the frequency of records of Gryllus migratorius, CEdipoda migratoria 

 and similar names, I was for some time sceptical whether the true 

 7?iigratorius of Linnaeus has ever occurred so far west, until I 

 examined four specimens in the Hope Collection at Oxford, which 

 are undoubtedly migratorius. Now this species is essentially an 

 eastern insect ; it is the locust of Southern Russia and Eastern 

 Europe, and has but a restricted distribution. Closely allied but far 

 more widely spread, I cannot tell why, is P. danicus (L.), (= cinerascens 

 Fabr.). This occurs throughout Southern and Western Europe as 

 far north as Belgium, right across the Palsearctic Region to Japan, 

 south through the Malay Archipelago to Australia and New Zealand, 

 and also in India, and throughout Africa. That an insect with so 

 wide a distribution, and with such powers of flight, an insect which is 

 a normal part of the fauna of Belgium, should occur in Great Britain 

 is by no means unlikely. I think that it may be taken for granted 

 that the majority of the locusts whose capture in England is recorded 

 under the name migratorius (entomologists seem to be utterly 

 indifferent to the proper use of generic names in Orthoptera), are 

 really Pachytylus dafiicus (L.). It seems to have occurred in England 

 more or less frequently for some years, but never has settled down to 

 breed here. Those who wish to have a detailed account of its visits 

 to this country I refer to Mr. Denison Roebuck's admirable paper on 

 "Locusts in Yorkshire," reprinted from the 'Naturalist' (1876), 

 Huddersfield. 



To give a clear distinction between the two species I will again 

 give the oft-repeated differences between them. In P. migratorius 

 the pronotum is more or less distinctly constricted ; in dafiicus it is 

 not constricted ; in migratorius the anterior border of the pronotum 

 is produced slightly forwards, and the median ridge is but slightly 

 elevated ; in danicus the anterior border is well produced forwards, 



