PRACTICAL HINTS. 163 



SO the anterior portion of the wings, instead of being soft, mem- 

 branous, and coloured, like the rest of the organ, is hard, horny, and 

 coriaceous, having the appearance of elytra. This part protects the 

 delicate wings when in repose, and when extended has exactly the 

 appearance of a long and narrow elytron. This is found in the majority, 

 if not in all, of the winged I'lia.'oiinilca. 



We might, perhaps, have reasonably expected that in the Mantodea 

 the abbreviation would have taken place in a manner similar to that of 

 the Phas»io(h'a, for they are not required for stridulation. But it is 

 not so. I know of no case in the Mantodra where the wings are more 

 developed than the elytra, much less where a part of the wings acts as 

 false elytra. 



Probably the most the r/taxniodi'a ever do is to parachute from tree 

 to tree, and the Mantodea seem to be unwilling flyers. In this latter 

 group, as in almost all Orthoptera, we find that the flight-organs are 

 more often abbreviated in the females than in the males. In Fhchcria, 

 Aniclcs, Arcldinanth, ScJii^nccjiJiala, ().rt/(ip/ttli(dniiis, Jinoineria, Ci)})tnp- 

 tcri/.c, Mac row ant is, I'ltotina, and others, they are developed in the 

 male and abbreviated in the female. 



We may, I think, make the following deductions with regard to 

 this subject : — 



I.— In Orthoptera the development, abortion, or absence of elytra and 



wings, is very variable. 

 II. — As the female is larger and heavier than the male, it is in the female 



that abbreviation occurs more frequently. 

 III. — In the saltatorial sections part at least of the elytra of the male is 



often retained for stridulation. 

 IV. — Corresponding rudiments may be transferred to the female. 

 V. — In such cases the length of elytra is extremely variable. 

 VI. — Usually the wings are abbreviated more than the elytra. 

 VII.— In the PhasjHodea the reverse is the case. 

 VIII. — The comparative length of the elytra and wings in Orthoptera is 

 absolutely untrustworthy as a systematic character. 



J§>RACTICAL HINTS. 



Field Work for Spring Months: June. 



By J. W. TUTT, F.E.S. 



1. — At the end of June, on the Clare coast, at Black Head, on the 

 horizontal slabs of limestone at the very edge of the cliff, whare 

 nothing grows but a few stunted tussocks of grass and the rare 

 Adiantum capillus-reneris, Ant/mnrra nithi[iena occurs in such countless 

 thousands, that when I passed my net along the edge of the cliff it 

 came back full of the moths (Hon. Emily Lawless). 



2. — The male of Hetcrofienea rntciata, which is nearly black in 

 colour, flies swiftly along the rides in Epping Forest, and is, in my 

 experience, never beaten out (Jjattershell-Oill). 



3. — (Enistis quadra is occasionally found spun up on trees, or on 

 palings in the neighbourhood of trees, covered with lichens at the end 

 of June. 



4. — During the last fortnight of June (and in July) search Verbaty- 

 cu7n well for larvfe of Cucullia li/c/i>iitis, 



5. — In June the larva of PscadoUrpua ci/tisaria feeds upon furze 

 {Ulcx eitropacKs), Cioiista amjlica and Sarothamnns scojiarius. 



