tJw Old World Cf/rta<'<uiih(irri>ri. liU 



locusts. In this work, however, I have restricted myself to 

 a study of tlie Old Woild representatives of the groiii) 

 onlv, because of a hick of sutlicieut material from the New 

 WJrkl *. 



The ricli collections of the British Museum, containing 

 numerous types of the species described by VValUer, have 

 served as a basis for tiiis work, but it could not have been 

 successfully aceom()lished wiihout the generous loan of 

 types and other materials from practically all the European 

 museums. A most obliging assistance in this respect has 

 been given by the following persons, all of whom I should 

 like to thank here once more : — Dr. L. Eerland and Dr. L. 

 Chopard (Paris Museum ; Finot's types) ; Prof. Y. Sjostedt 

 (Stockholm Museum ; types of species described by himself 

 and by Stal) ; Prof. R. Ebner (Vienna Museum; types of 

 species described by H. Krauss, K. Holdhaus, and H. Karny); 

 Dr. C. Bolivar (Madrid Museum ; I. Bolivar's types) ; 

 Dr. de Witte (Museum of the Belgian Congo ; I. Bolivar^s 

 types); Dr. Gr. Severin (Belgian Museum; I. Bolivar's 

 types) ; Dr. L. Peringuey (S. African Museum, Cape Town); 

 Prof. E. B. Poulton (Oxford Museum) ; Prof. M. Bedot 

 and Dr. J. Carl (Geneva Museum). To Mr. J. H. Durrant 

 I am greatly obliged for his valuable assistance in settling- 

 some most entangled and doubtful questions of synonymy. 



Up to the year 1870, when Walker established his genus 

 CyrtacanthacriSj all the species belonging to the group under 

 revision were known under the generic name Acridiwn, 

 which is being used even at present by some authors. The 

 following history of generic names, however, shows most 

 clearly that Acridium can only be applied to members of this 

 group if we deliberately chose to preserve the evident mistake 

 made by Serville in the application of the name. 



The genus Acrydium was established by Geotfroy in 1762 

 (Hist. abr. des Insectes, i. p. 390) to include all short-horned 

 grasshoppers, of which he records six species as occurring in 

 the vicinity of Paris, none of them belonging to the subfamily 

 Catantopiiue ( = Acridiin£e, auct.) characterised by the armed 

 prosternum. There is no indication whatever as to which of 

 the six species mentioned by Geoff roy should be regarded 

 as the genotype of Acrydium^ but there is certainly no 



* There is also miicli confusion in the systematics and synonymy of 

 numerous American representatives of the group, and it is to be hoped 

 that American ortliopterists will soon clear it up, although this cannot 

 be done without consulting European collections. 



9^ 



